Born in Leicester, England, in 1946, Julian Barnes is the author of two books of stories, three collections of essays, a translation of Alphonse Daudet’s In the Land of Pain, and ten novels. His most recent work is Nothing To Be Frightened Of, an exploration of death, religion, and family.

In France, he is the only writer to have won both the Prix Médicis and the Prix Fémina, and in 2004 he became a Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In England his honors include the Somerset Maugham Award and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He has also received the E. M. Forster Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and the San Clemente literary prize. He lives in London.

"It is a beautiful and funny book, still booming in my head." -- Garrison Keillor

Julian Barnes on Eugène Delacroix’s Journal

Julian Barnes writes about Eugène Delacroix in "A Great Fiery Explosion Called Delacroix," Times Literary Supplement, 5 May 2010 (Eugène Delacroix Journal; Edited by Michèle Hannoosh). From the Article: Delacroix was twenty-four when he began the Journal on September 3, 1822. It opens with a simple declaration and an alluring promise: I am carrying out my plan, so often formulated, of keeping a journal. What I most keenly wish is not to forget that I am writing for myself alone. Thus I shall always tell the truth, I hope, and thus I shall improve myself. These pages will reproach me for my changes of mind. I am starting out in a good humour. You can quite see why some believe all journals are written to be read by others. Despite the excludingness of that second sentence, the paragraph as a whole invites us in. If this were a novel, the narrative hook would have already been inserted: we want and need to know whether the diarist does tell the truth, whether he improves himself as a result, whether he changes his mind, and whether or not his initial good humour dissipates. Read the rest of the article on the Times Literary Supplement website.

Pulse -- A New Collection of Stories Set for Jan 2011

Julian Barnes has announced that his next book will be a collection of short stories titled Pulse. Publication is scheduled for 19th January in the U.K. (Cape) and Canada (Knopf) with a slightly later date in the U.S. (Knopf). Barnes's last collection of short stories The Lemon Table was published in 2004. Keep up with future announcements like this one via the Julian Barnes Website's supplemental page on Facebook. Connect with other fans from across the world and participate in discussion forums. Hope to have you as a fan! Julian Barnes Website on Facebook

London Review of Books

"A City of Sand and Puddles" London Review of Books, 32.8, 22 April 2010: 9-11 [Rev. of Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris by Graham Robb and The Invention of Paris: A History in Footsteps by Eric Hazan, translated by David Fernbach].

Arthur & George on Stage

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company and Nottingham Playhouse present Arthur & George Adapted for the stage by David Edgar Based on the novel by Julian Barnes Fri., 19 Mar 2010 – Sat., 10 Apr 2010 Birmingham solicitor George Edalji has been convicted of a terrible crime and is desperate to prove his innocence. After his release from prison he recruits the help of none other than expert crime writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to help solve his mysterious case and hopefully win him a pardon. This powerful new stage adaptation, based on Julian Barnes’ semi-fictional novel, brings vividly to life the events of a hundred years ago which made sensational headlines as The Great Wyrley Outrages. As gripping as any of Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Arthur & George also raises many questions about guilt and innocence, identity, nationality and race. Birmingham born, and internationally acclaimed playwright, David Edgar has written many plays including Destiny, Pentecost, Playing With Fire and Testing The Echo and his stage adaptations include Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde and Nicholas Nickleby. His most recent work for The REP was a new translation of Brecht’s Galileo. Visit the Birmingham Repertory website for ticketing and performance information: http://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/event/arthur-george Stage version available via Nick Hern Books or Amazon.co.uk Read a piece by David Edgar about adapting Julian Barnes's novel Arthur & George for the stage: "Ways of Seeing." The Guardian, 13 March 2010. Read a piece featuring Julian Barnes's thoughts on being adapted for the stage: John O’Connell, "Julian Barnes — a novelist takes to the stage." The Times, 15 March 2010.

Birds of Prey: Seven Sardonic Stories

An excerpt from Julian Barnes's novel Flaubert's Parrot makes an appearance in Birds of Prey: Seven Sardonic Stories, published by Rare Books and Berry in April 2010. Other writers in the collection include Salman Rushdie, Edgar Allan Poe, and Daphne du Maurier. From the Publisher: Birds of Prey is an extraordinary anthology that has brought together authors from the past and the present; from the West and from the East. They have produced a collection of exotic, and sometimes terrifying, stories about birds. There is a deftness to their talent and a mystical quality to everything they have created. It’s a dangerous mistake – and one sometimes made by even the most experienced of readers – to assume that the short story is somehow a novel in miniature. It’s not. It behaves differently, and well-executed examples of this difficult genre pack a punch way above their weight. Another mistake more commonly made is to assume that birds are simply normal animals with wings. That’s not true either. They’re much more extraordinary than that. It follows then that a book of short stories about birds should be something special indeed, and Birds of Prey – Seven Sardonic Stories is just that. A mixture of old favourites – how could you produce a book like this without including Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds? – and some pleasant surprises, it’s the kind of book that taps into our primal fear, mystic respect and unbridled awe of these descendants of the dinosaurs. As well as du Maurier’s classic there are tales from Salman Rushdie, Edgar Allan Poe, Julian Barnes, the explorer Richard Francis Burton and Christopher Ondaatje. This slender and gripping volume is introduced with an excellent essay by Margaret Drabble. Birds of Prey: Seven Sardonic Stories Published by Rare Books and Berry 128 printed pages Hardback Price £9-95 ISBN 978-0-9557119-9-2 Order direct from the publisher Rare Books and Berry or from Amazon.co.uk.

Nothing To Be Frightened Of (Vintage)

‘I don’t believe in God, but I miss him.’ Julian Barnes’ Nothing To Be Frightened Of is, among many things, a family memoir, an exchange with his brother (a philosopher), a meditation on mortality and the fear of death, a celebration of art, an argument with and about God, and a homage to the French writer Jules Renard. Though he warns us that ‘this is not my autobiography’, the result is like a tour of the mind of one of our most brilliant writers. When Angela Carter reviewed Barnes’s first novel, Metroland, she praised the mature way he wrote about death. Now, nearly thirty years later, he returns to the subject in a wise , funny and constantly surprising book, which defies category and classification – except as Barnesian. The Vintage paperback edition is available from the Vintage website or Amazon.co.uk. The American edition is available from Knopf and the Canadian from Random House Canada. Order your copy online via Amazon.com, Knopf, Amazon.co.uk, Random House, Amazon.ca, or one of a number of local independent booksellers. Read the first chapter online at the New York Times website.

Conversations with Julian Barnes

University Press of Mississippi, April 2009. 212 pages (approx.) Conversations with Julian Barnes collects eighteen interviews, conducted over nearly three decades, by journalists and correspondents throughout the world with Julian Barnes, the author of such highly praised novels as Flaubert's Parrot and Arthur & George. The interviews collectively address the entirety of Barnes's varied works and provide readers the most vivid portrait yet of contexts and influences behind his ten novels, his short stories, and his essays. The interviews focus not only on the author's fiction but also on his essays, translations, and pseudonymous writings. Barnes's evolving understanding of the themes developed in his works (history, truth, love, art, and death), his views on the art of the writing process, and the role of authors in contemporary society are also discussed at length. About the Editors: Vanessa Guignery is assistant professor of British literature at the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne and the author of The Fiction of Julian Barnes. Ryan Roberts is a librarian at Lincoln Land Community College. He also maintains the official websites of Julian Barnes and Ian McEwan. You may order a copy at the University Press of Mississippi website or online via Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, or a variety of Independent Booksellers. Contents of Conversations with Julian Barnes: Introduction Chronology Ronald Hayman: Julian Barnes in Interview Caroline Holland: Escape from Metroland Patrick McGrath: Julian Barnes Bruce Cook: The World's History and Then Some in 10½ Chapters Michael March: Into the Lion's Mouth: A Conversation with Julian Barnes Observer: He's Turned Towards Python (But Not the Dead Flaubert's Parrot Sketch...): Interview with Julian Barnes Rudolf Freiburg: "Novels Come out of Life, Not out of Theories": An Interview with Julian Barnes Vanessa Guignery: "History in Question(s)": An Interview with Julian Barnes Shusha Guppy: Julian Barnes: The Art of Fiction CLXV Robert Birnbaum: Julian Barnes, Etc. Peter Wild: Interviews: Julian Barnes Vanessa Guignery: Julian Barnes in Conversation Nadine O'Regan: Cool, Clean Man of Letters Ramona Koval: Big Ideas-Program 5-"Julian Barnes" Stuart Jeffries: "It's for Self-Protection" Xesús Fraga: Interview with Julian Barnes (Previously unpublished in English) Margaret Crick: Julian Barnes: Are You an Oldie? (Expanded version) Vanessa Guignery and Ryan Roberts: Julian Barnes: The Final Interview (Conducted specially for this collection) Reviews: Bursey, Jeff. RAINTAXI online, Spring 2010: "There is much to mull over in this comprehensive and worthwhile collection that will give new and old readers of Barnes’s work a greater appreciation for his erudition and geniality." Peters, Arjan. "Vreugde en verdriet der conversatie." de Volkskrant, 21 August 2009.