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.

(Now available in an unabridged BBC Audiobook read by the author.)

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

New Essays on Julian Barnes

American, British and Canadian Studies (ABC) has published a special issue: Worlds within Words: Twenty-first Century Visions on the Work of Julian Barnes. Edited by Vanessa Guignery, Professor of English Literature at the Ecole Normale Supérieure and author of several books on Barnes's work, the special issue features essays presented at a 2008 Liverpool conference on Barnes's work and others commissioned specifically for the issue -- volume 13, December 2009. Introduction: Criss-crossing Lines VANESSA GUIGNERY Alternatives to Metanarrative in the Work of Julian Barnes BIANCA LEGGETT Truth Takes a Holiday: Julian Barnes’s England, England and the Theme Park as Literary Genre GREGORY J. RUBINSON Competing Narratives in Julian Barnes’s Arthur & George ANA-KARINA SCHNEIDER The Erosion of Victorian Discourses in Julian Barnes’s Arthur & George BOZENA KUCALA “A peculiarly English idiosyncrasy?” Julian Barnes’s Use of Lists in England, England CHRISTINE BERBERICH Constructions of Englishness in Julian Barnes’s Arthur & George ELSA CAVALIÉ Conversations about Death: Julian Barnes’s The Lemon Table FREDERICK M. HOLMES Beneath a Bombers’ Moon: Barnes and Belief PETER CHILDS “I don’t believe in God but I miss Him”: Religion and Nostalgia in the Work of Julian Barnes WOJCIECH DRAG Why Julian Barnes Couldn’t Possibly Miss God DANIEL CANDEL BORMANN For ordering details and a complete table of contents with abstracts, please visit the publisher's website: http://abcjournal.ulbsibiu.ro/volume_13_2009.html

New Stories -- "Harmony" & "Sleeping with John Updike "

Julian Barnes's new short story "Harmony" was published in Granta 109: Work.You may order a copy of the issue online at the Granta website or on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. And on the first anniversary of John Updike's death, Barnes publishes "Sleeping with John Updike" in The Guardian, 23 January 2010.

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

Barnes on Frank O'Connor

The most generous one-volume collection ever published of short stories, autobiographical writings, poetry, and essays by the writer Yeats called "Ireland’s Chekhov." Selected and arranged thematically by Julian Barnes, the rich mix of writings in The Best of Frank O'Connor starts off with his most famous short story, "Guests of the Nation," set during the Irish War of Independence; chronicles his childhood with an alcoholic father and protective mother; and traces his literary influences in brilliant essays on Joyce and Yeats. O'Connor's wonderfully polyphonic tales of family, friendship, and rivalry are set beside those that bring to life forgotten souls on the fringes of society. O'Connor's writings about Ireland vividly evoke the land he called home, while other stories probe the hardships and rewards of Irish emigration. Finally, we see O'Connor grappling, in both fiction and memoir, with the largest questions of religion and belief. The Best of Frank O'Connor is a literary monument to a truly great writer. Read Barnes's introduction in The Spectator.

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. Vintage paperback edition is now 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. Publication is scheduled for April 2009, and you may pre-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) You may also view the submitted index courtesy of Ryan Roberts. Please note that the final, published index will likely be edited with fewer entries. All page numbers correspond to the published edition. Index to Conversations with Julian Barnes.