Damian Barr – författare

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2025SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD TRAVEL WRITING AWARD FOR FICTION 2026SHORTLISTED FOR THE WINSTON GRAHAM PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2026LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2026A BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK A BEST FICTION BOOK OF 2025 FOR THE GUARDIAN, THE OBSERVER, THE HERALD AND THE BBC'Crackles with creative rebellion' DOUGLAS STUART'immersive, intelligent, immensely sensual' ELIF SHAFAK'A novel that brims over with generosity and warmth' OBSERVERHe will stay like this forever, Robert's arm draped round him. They will be forever twenty. Scotland, 1933. Bobby MacBryde is on his way. After years grafting at Lees Boot Factory, he's off to the Glasgow School of Art, to his future. On his first day he will meet another Robert, a quiet man with loose dark curls - and never leave his side.Together they will spend every penny and every minute devouring Glasgow - its botanical gardens, the Barras market, a whole hidden city - all the while loving each other behind closed doors. With the world on the brink of war, their unrivalled talent will take them to Paris, Rome, London. They will become stars as the bombs fall, hosting wild parties with the likes of Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon and Elizabeth Smart. But the brightest stars burn fastest. Stunningly reimagined, The Two Roberts is a profoundly moving story of devotion and obsession, art and class. It is a love letter to MacBryde and Colquhoun, the almost-forgotten artists who tried to change the way the world sees - and paid a devastating price.

A unique, tender and witty memoir of surviving the tough streets of small town Scotland during the Margaret Thatcher years________________________''Shocking and funny in equal measure, and will have you weeping with laughter and sorrow'' Independent on Sunday''A work of stealthy genius'' Maggie O''Farrell''Certain memoirs catch a moment and seem to define it, bottle it ... hugely entertaining'' Sunday TimesIt''s 12 October 1984. An IRA bomb blows apart the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Miraculously, Margaret Thatcher survives. In small-town Scotland, eight-year-old Damian Barr watches in horror as his mum rips her wedding ring off and packs their bags. He knows he, too, must survive.Damian, his sister and his Catholic mum move in with her sinister new boyfriend while his Protestant dad shacks up with the glamorous Mary the Canary. Divided by sectarian suspicion, the community is held together by the sprawling Ravenscraig Steelworks. But darkness threatens as Maggie takes hold: she snatches school milk, smashes the unions and makes greed good. Following Maggie''s advice, Damian works hard and plans his escape. He discovers that stories can save your life and - in spite of violence, strikes, AIDS and Clause 28 - manages to fall in love dancing to Madonna in Glasgow''s only gay club.Maggie & Me is a touching and darkly witty memoir about surviving Thatcher''s Britain; a story of growing up gay in a straight world and coming out the other side in spite of, and maybe because of, the iron lady.Damian Barr''s critically acclaimed debut novel, YOU WILL BE SAFE HERE, also available now.

A unique, tender and witty memoir of surviving the tough streets of small town Scotland during the Margaret Thatcher years________________________'Shocking and funny in equal measure, and will have you weeping with laughter and sorrow' Independent on Sunday'A work of stealthy genius' Maggie O'Farrell'Certain memoirs catch a moment and seem to define it, bottle it ... hugely entertaining' Sunday TimesIt's 12 October 1984. An IRA bomb blows apart the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Miraculously, Margaret Thatcher survives. In small-town Scotland, eight-year-old Damian Barr watches in horror as his mum rips her wedding ring off and packs their bags. He knows he, too, must survive.Damian, his sister and his Catholic mum move in with her sinister new boyfriend while his Protestant dad shacks up with the glamorous Mary the Canary. Divided by sectarian suspicion, the community is held together by the sprawling Ravenscraig Steelworks. But darkness threatens as Maggie takes hold: she snatches school milk, smashes the unions and makes greed good. Following Maggie's advice, Damian works hard and plans his escape. He discovers that stories can save your life and - in spite of violence, strikes, AIDS and Clause 28 - manages to fall in love dancing to Madonna in Glasgow's only gay club. Maggie & Me is a touching and darkly witty memoir about surviving Thatcher's Britain; a story of growing up gay in a straight world and coming out the other side in spite of, and maybe because of, the iron lady.Damian Barr's critically acclaimed debut novel, YOU WILL BE SAFE HERE, also available now.

An Observer, Guardian, Financial Times, Sunday Times South Africa, Irish Times, Irish Independent, Big Issue and Strong Words Pick of the YearAn Irish Times and The Times Summer Reading Pick Shortlisted for the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year AwardShortlisted for the London Magazine Debut Fiction Prize 2020Longlisted for HWA Debut Crown 2020‘Beautifully written and emotionally devastating’ Daily MailA beautiful and heart-breaking story set in South Africa where two mothers - a century apart - must fight for their sons, unaware their fates are inextricably linked.Orange Free State, 1901. At the height of the Boer War, Sarah van der Watt and her six-year-old son Fred can only watch as the British burn their farm. The polite invaders cart them off to Bloemfontein Concentration Camp promising you will be safe here.Johannesburg, 2010. Sixteen-year-old Willem is an outsider who just wants to be left alone with his Harry Potter books and Britney, his beloved pug. Worried he’s turning out soft, his Ma and her new boyfriend send him to New Dawn Safari Camp, where they ‘make men out of boys.’ Guaranteed.The red earth of the veldt keeps countless secrets whether beaten by the blistering sun or stretching out beneath starlit stillness. But no secret can stay buried forever.

An Observer, Guardian, Financial Times, Sunday Times South Africa, Irish Times, Irish Independent, Big Issue and Strong Words Pick of the Year An Irish Times and The Times Summer Reading Pick Shortlisted for the Saltire Society Fiction Book of the Year AwardShortlisted for the London Magazine Debut Fiction Prize 2020Longlisted for HWA Debut Crown 2020 ''Beautifully written and emotionally devastating'' Daily MailA beautiful and heart-breaking story set in South Africa where two mothers - a century apart - must fight for their sons, unaware their fates are inextricably linked. Orange Free State, 1901. At the height of the Boer War, Sarah van der Watt and her six-year-old son Fred can only watch as the British burn their farm. The polite invaders cart them off to Bloemfontein Concentration Camp promising you will be safe here. Johannesburg, 2010. Sixteen-year-old Willem is an outsider who just wants to be left alone with his Harry Potter books and Britney, his beloved pug. Worried he''s turning out soft, his Ma and her new boyfriend send him to New Dawn Safari Camp, where they ''make men out of boys.'' Guaranteed. The red earth of the veldt keeps countless secrets whether beaten by the blistering sun or stretching out beneath starlit stillness. But no secret can stay buried forever.