Julian
Barnes was born in Leicester, England on January 19, 1946. He was
educated at the City of London School from 1957 to 1964 and at Magdalen
College, Oxford, from which he graduated in modern languages (with
honors) in 1968. After graduation, he worked as a lexicographer for
the Oxford English Dictionary supplement for three years.
In 1977, Barnes began working as a reviewer and literary editor for
the New Statesmen and the New Review. From 1979
to 1986 he worked as a television critic, first for the New Statesmen
and then for the Observer (London).
Barnes has received several awards and honors for
his writing including the Somerset Maugham Award (Metroland
1981), two Booker Prize nominations (Flaubert's Parrot 1984,
England, England 1998); Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (FP
1985); Prix Médicis (FP 1986); E. M. Forster Award (American
Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, 1986); Gutenberg Prize
(1987); Grinzane Cavour Prize (Italy, 1988); and the Prix Femina (Talking
It Over 1992). Barnes was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts
et des Lettres in 1988, Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
in 1995 and Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2004.
In 1993 he was awarded the Shakespeare Prize by the FVS Foundation
and in 2004 won the Austrian State Prize for European Literature.
Julian Barnes has written ten novels, two books of
short stories, two collections of essays, and a collection of writings
about cookery. He has also translated a book by French author Alphonse
Daudet and a collection of German cartoons by Volker Kriegel. His
writing has earned him considerable respect as an author who deals
with the themes of history, reality, truth and love.
Barnes currently lives in London where he is busy
writing. His most recent novel is Arthur
& George.
