Billy O'Callaghan

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Billy O'Callaghan
Billy O'Callaghan (August 2016)
Billy O'Callaghan (August 2016)
Born (1974-12-09) 9 December 1974 (age 46)
Cork, Ireland
OccupationWriter
NationalityIreland
Period1999–present
Literary movementIrish Short Story
Notable worksThe Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind. My Coney Island Baby
Website
www.billyocallaghan.ie/en/bibliography/

Billy O'Callaghan (born 9 December 1974) is an Irish short fiction writer and novelist. He is best known for his short-story collection The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind, which was awarded the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award for the short story in 2013[1][2][3] and his widely-translated novel My Coney Island Baby, which was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature's Encore Award.

Early life[]

Billy O'Callaghan was born in Cork in 1974, and grew up in Douglas village, where he still lives.

Literary career[]

His first collection of short stories, In Exile, was published by Mercier Press in 2008.[4] This was followed a year later by a second collection, In Too Deep (also published by Mercier Press).[5][6] In 2013, his third collection, The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind, was published by New Island Books.[7][8] His short stories have been published in literary journals around the world,[9] and translated into several other languages. His work has been broadcast on RTÉ Radio 1's The Book On One,[10] Sunday Miscellany[11] and the Francis McManus Award series.[12]

In 2017, Ploughshares published O'Callaghan's story A Death in the Family as a Ploughshares Solo.[13]

O'Callaghan's first novel, The Dead House, was published in Ireland by Brandon, an imprint of O'Brien Press, in 2017, and in North America by Arcade Publishing in 2018.[14][15]

His novel, My Coney Island Baby, was published in 2019, by Jonathan Cape (UK)[16] and Harper (USA),[17] as well as in French by Éditions Grasset as Les amants de Coney Island, translated by Carine Chichereau,[18] Dutch by Ambo Anthos as Mijn lief op Coney Island, translated by Lette Vos,[19] German by as Die Liebenden von Coney Island, translated by Sibylle Schmidt[20] Czech by  [cs] as Náš Coney Island, translated by Petr Eliáš,[21] Catalan by L'Altra Editorial as Els amants de Coney Island, translated by Ferran Ràfols Gesa,[22] Italian by Guanda Editore as My Coney Island Baby, translated by Ada Arduini [23] and Hungarian by Jelenkor as Szerelmem, Coney Island, translated by Zoltán Pék.[24]

A new short story collection, The Boatman and Other Stories, was published in January 2020 by Jonathan Cape (UK)[25] and Harper Perennial (USA).[26]

A new novel Life Sentences was published in 2021 by Jonathan Cape (UK)[27]

Awards[]

In November 2013, "The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind" won the inaugural Short Story of the Year Award at the 2013 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award; "Down by the River" was selected in 2014 as Ireland's representative in the ongoing UNESCO Cities of Literature project;[28] and "The Boatman" was a finalist for the 2016 Costa Short Story Award.[29] In June 2020, My Coney Island Baby was shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature's Encore Award.[30]

Bibliography[]

Short story collections[]

  • In Exile (2008)
  • In Too Deep (2009)
  • The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind (2013)
  • The Boatman and Other Stories (2020)

Non-fiction[]

  • Learning from the Greats: Lessons on Writing, from the Great Writers (2014)[31]

Novels[]

  • The Dead House (2017)
  • My Coney Island Baby (2019)
  • Life Sentences (2021)

References[]

  1. ^ "Writing.ie Short Story of the Year".
  2. ^ "Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award Winners". The Sunday Independent. 2 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Irish Book Award Winners".
  4. ^ McClements, Freya (24 January 2009). "PAPERBACKS". The Irish Times.
  5. ^ "Billy O'Callaghan, Mercier Press".
  6. ^ Van Booy, Simon. "In Too Deep Review". The Stinging Fly, Issue 15, Vol. 2.
  7. ^ "No escape from reality in atmospheric fictions". The Irish Examiner. 23 November 2013.
  8. ^ McLaughlin, Danielle. "The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind". Southword.
  9. ^ The Forge literary magazine, 28 March 2016
  10. ^ "RTÉ Radio 1: The Book On One".
  11. ^ Sunday Miscellany 24 November 2013, RTE.
  12. ^ Francis McManus short story, RTE, 2 November 2015.
  13. ^ "A Death in the Family (6.4) | Ploughshares". www.pshares.org. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  14. ^ "Billy O'Callaghan | Author Rights Agency". Archived from the original on 18 April 2016.
  15. ^ Book Review, New York Times, 1 June 2018.
  16. ^ Penguin Books site.
  17. ^ Harper Collins site.
  18. ^ Grasset site.
  19. ^ Ambo Anthos site
  20. ^ Random House site
  21. ^ Paseka site.
  22. ^ L'Altra Editorial site
  23. ^ [1]
  24. ^ [2]
  25. ^ Penguin Books site.
  26. ^ Harper Collins site.
  27. ^ Penguin Books site.
  28. ^ "Down by the River eftir Billy O'Callaghan". Archived from the original on 24 March 2015.
  29. ^ Irish writers on Costa short story award list, Irish Times, 26 January 2017.
  30. ^ [3]
  31. ^ Learning From The Greats Archived 16 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine: Lessons on Writing, from the Great Writers
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