John Boyne
Irish novelist and youth fiction author (born 1971) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Irish novelist and youth fiction author (born 1971) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Boyne (born 30 April 1971) is an Irish novelist.[1] He is the author of sixteen novels for adults, six novels for younger readers, two novellas and one collection of short stories. His novels are published in over 50 languages. His 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was adapted into a 2008 film of the same name.
John Boyne | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Boyne in 2010 | |
| Born | 30 April 1971 Dublin, Ireland |
| Period | 2000–present |
| Genre | Literary fiction |
| Notable works | The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2006) The Absolutist (2011) |
| Website | |
| johnboyne | |
Boyne was born in Dublin, Ireland, where he still lives. His first short story was published by the Sunday Tribune and in 1993 was shortlisted for a Hennessy Literary Award.[2][3] His B.A. degree is from Trinity College Dublin in English in 1993,[4][5] and he subsequently obtained an MA degree from the University of East Anglia. In 2015 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia. He chaired the jury for the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize.[6]
Boyne is gay, and has spoken about the difficulties he encountered growing up gay in Catholic Ireland.[7][8][9] He has spoken of suffering abuse in Terenure College as a student there.[10]
He regards John Banville as "the world's greatest living writer".[11]
In May 2024, Boyne was the castaway on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.[12]
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was published in 2006. The book has sold over seven million copies worldwide.[13] A Heyday/Miramax film adaptation, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, was shot in Budapest in mid-2007 and released in late 2008. Directed by Mark Herman, the film stars Asa Butterfield, David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga, Rupert Friend and Sheila Hancock. In January 2020, the book was cited by the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, in a set of back and forth tweets between the museum and the author, as a book that should be avoided by those promoting accurate understanding of the Holocaust.[14] In response, Boyne suggested that the museum's criticism contained inaccurate information.[15]
Boyne's 2019 book My Brother's Name Is Jessica, about a young boy coming to terms with his older sibling coming out as a trans girl, was criticised over its portrayal of transgender topics and for misgendering people. In an article in The Irish Times promoting the book, Boyne explained that he was inspired to write it by a transgender friend of his, and had spoken to gender-identity professionals and "several trans people" to ensure he portrayed the book's subject matter authentically. However, he received further criticism for stating in the article that "I reject the word 'cis'... I don't consider myself a cis man; I consider myself a man." He added that "while I will happily employ any term that a person feels best defines them... I reject the notion that someone can force an unwanted term on to another".[16][17]
Boyne deleted his Twitter account, citing social media harassment, though he would later rejoin the site.[18][19][15] Some writers have supported him.[20][21] In 2020, comedian and writer Aidan Comerford, who had repeatedly accused Boyne of transphobia, issued an apology via Twitter. Comerford admitted that his tweets about Boyne "were relentless harassment" that had caused Boyne "great distress". Boyne responded by saying: "I am grateful for Aidan Comerford's apologies and retractions and, outside of that, I have no further comment."[22]
He alluded to the backlash he received over the book again in a newspaper column in 2021. Although Boyne did not mention Comerford by name, he referenced someone who "admitted that he'd been engaged in a determined campaign of 'relentless harassment'", and then "slithered back to his subterranean cavern to lick his wounds".[23]
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