Biography
Playwright and novelist Patrick McCabe was born in 1955 in Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland. He was educated at St Patrick's Training College in Dublin and began teaching at Kingsbury Day Special School in London in 1980. His short story 'The Call' won the Irish Press Hennessy Award.
He is the author of five novels including The Butcher Boy (1992), a black comedy narrated by a disturbed young slaughterhouse worker, which won the Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Fiction; The Dead School (1995), an account of the misfortunes that befall two Dublin teachers; and Breakfast on Pluto (1998), the disturbing tale of a transvestite prostitute who becomes involved with Republican terrorists. The Butcher Boy and Breakfast on Pluto were both shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction.
He is also the author of a children's book, The Adventures of Shay Mouse (1985), and a collection of linked short stories, Mondo Desperado, published in 1999. His play Frank Pig Says Hello, which he adapted from The Butcher Boy, was first performed at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 1992. The play is published in Far from the Land: Contemporary Irish Plays (1998), edited by John Fairleigh. A film adaptation of The Butcher Boy directed by Neil Jordan was first screened in 1996. His short stories have been published in the Irish Times and the Cork Examiner and his work has been broadcast by RTÉ in Ireland and the BBC.
Patrick McCabe lives in Sligo in Ireland with his wife and two daughters. His novel, Emerald Germs of Ireland (2001), is a black comedy featuring matricide Pat McNab and his attempts to fend off nosy neighbours. His novel, Winterwood, was published in 2006, and was named the 2007 Hughes & Hughes/Irish Independent Irish Novel of the Year. His latest novel is The Holy City (2008).
Bibliography
The Adventures of Shay Mouse Raven Arts Press (Dublin), 1985
Music on Clinton Street Raven Arts Press (Dublin), 1986
Carn Aidan Ellis, 1989
The Butcher Boy Picador, 1992
The Dead School Picador, 1995
Breakfast on Pluto Picador, 1998
Far from the Land: Contemporary Irish Plays (includes Patrick McCabe's 'Frank Pig') Methuen, 1998
Mondo Desperado Picador, 1999
Emerald Germs of Ireland Picador, 2001
Call Me The Breeze Faber and Faber, 2003
Winterwood Bloomsbury, 2006
The Holy City Bloomsbury, 2008
Prizes and awards
1979 Irish Press Hennessy Award (short story - 'The Call')
1992 Booker Prize for Fiction (shortlist) The Butcher Boy
1992 Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Fiction The Butcher Boy
1998 Booker Prize for Fiction (shortlist) Breakfast on Pluto
2007 Hughes & Hughes/Irish Independent Irish Novel of the Year Winterwood
2008 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (shortlist) Winterwood
