John Boyne was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1971, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and creative writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, where he was awarded the Curtis Brown prize.
His early writing consisted mostly of short stories, the first of which, The Entertainments Jar, was shortlisted for the Hennessy Literary Award in Ireland. In total, Boyne has published over 70 short stories.
His debut novel, The Boy in Striped Pajamas, was made into an award-winning Miramax film. The novel itself won two Irish Book Awards, the Bisto Book of the Year, and was shortlisted or won a host of international awards. Amongst other accolades, it spent more than 80 weeks at No.1 in Ireland, topped the New York Times Bestseller List, and was the bestselling book in Spain in both 2007 and 2008. Worldwide, it has sold more than 5 million copies.
Boyne’s eighth novel, Noah Barleywater Runs Away, a book for younger readers, was published in October 2010 and reached No.1 on the Irish Bestseller Chart. It was also shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year.
His most recent novel, The Absolutist, was published in 2011.
A new children’s book, The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket, will be published in the UK, Australia and Ireland in August 2012.
John Boyne appears in An Hour with John Boyne and Why YA?
Back to Writers