Irish novelist John Banville/aka Benjamin Black was born in Wexford in Ireland in 1945. He was educated at a Christian Brothers' school and St Peter's College in Wexford. He worked for Aer Lingus in Dublin, an opportunity that enabled him to travel widely. He was literary editor of the Irish Times between 1988 and 1999. Long Lankin, a collection of short stories, was published in 1970. It was followed by Nightspawn (1971) and Birchwood (1973), both novels.
Banville's fictional portrait of the 15th-century Polish astronomer Dr Copernicus (1976) won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction) and was the first in a series of books exploring the lives of eminent scientists and scientific ideas. The second novel in the series was about the 16th-century German astronomer Kepler (1981) and won the Guardian Fiction Prize. The Newton Letter: An Interlude (1982), is the story of an academic writing a book about the mathematician Sir Isaac Newton. It was adapted as a film by Channel 4 Television. Mefisto (1986), explores the world of numbers in a reworking of Dr Faustus.
The Book of Evidence (1989), which won the Guinness Peat Aviation Book Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction, Ghosts (1993) and Athena (1995) form a loose trilogy of novels narrated by Freddie Montgomery, a convicted murderer. The central character of Banville's 1997 novel, The Untouchable, Victor Maskell, is based on the art historian and spy Anthony Blunt. Eclipse (2000), is narrated by Alexander Cleave, an actor who has withdrawn to the house where he spent his childhood. Shroud (2002), continues the tale begun in Eclipse and Prague Pictures: Portrait of a City (2003), is a personal evocation of the magical European city.
John Banville lives in Dublin. His latest book The Sea (2005) won the 2005 Man Booker Prize. In The Sea an elderly art historian loses his wife to cancer and feels compelled to revisit the seaside villa where he spent childhood holidays.
Long Lankin Secker & Warburg, 1970
Nightspawn Secker & Warburg, 1971
Birchwood Secker & Warburg, 1973
Dr Copernicus Secker & Warburg, 1976
Kepler Secker & Warburg, 1981
The Newton Letter: An Interlude Secker & Warburg, 1982
Mefisto Secker & Warburg, 1986
The Book of Evidence Secker & Warburg, 1989
Ghosts Secker & Warburg, 1993
Athena Secker & Warburg, 1995
The Ark Gallery Press, 1996
The Untouchable Picador, 1997
Eclipse Picador, 2000
Shroud Picador, 2002
Prague Pictures: Portrait of a City Bloomsbury, 2003
The Sea Picador, 2005
1973 Allied Irish Banks' Prize Birchwood
1973 Arts Council Macaulay Fellowship Birchwood
1975 American Ireland Fund Literary Award Dr Copernicus
1976 James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction) (fiction award) Dr Copernicus
1981 Guardian Fiction Prize Kepler
1989 Booker Prize for Fiction (shortlist) The Book of Evidence
1989 Guinness Peat Aviation Book Award The Book of Evidence
1997 Lannan Literary Award (Fiction)
2005 Man Booker Prize for Fiction The Sea
2006 British Book Awards Author of the Year (shortlist) The Sea
2007 Man Booker International Prize (shortlist)
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