John Banville

Irish writer · Ireland · On the map · Writers · Born 1945 · age 80

William John Banville is an Irish novelist, adapter of dramas, and screenwriter. A former member of Aosdána, he voluntarily relinquished the financial stipend in 2001 to another, more impoverished, writer.

John Banville is read about 415 times a day, in 44 languages.

A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026

The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 400 days, one point a day.

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A life in dates

2014Princess of Asturias Literary PrizeAward2013“As a boy I was very solitary but blissfully happy. We lived on the edge of town in Wexford and I wandered the fields with my dog, declaiming Keats to the trees.”In their words30 June 2013Ciara Dwyer. John Banville: Who cares whodunnit?, The Daily BeastRead the whole statement

“I remember my father didn't say very much - he was a very laconic man. When he'd go to a party, he would become very animated. My mother would say - 'Look at him.”In their words30 June 2013Ciara Dwyer. John Banville: Who cares whodunnit?, The Daily BeastRead the whole statement

“Look at what goes on in our heads when we think about our family or we think about sex. There are things in there that you'd never really say to anybody.”In their words30 June 2013Ciara Dwyer. John Banville: Who cares whodunnit?, The Daily BeastRead the whole statement

“If you think I'm being bleak, I'm not. It's wonderful to be making yourself up. That's what makes life so exciting. It's an unending adventure.”In their words30 June 2013Ciara Dwyer. John Banville: Who cares whodunnit?, The Daily BeastRead the whole statement

“I like to dress conservatively because then the outrageous things you say are even more outrageous.”In their words30 June 2013Ciara Dwyer. John Banville: Who cares whodunnit?, The Daily BeastRead the whole statement

“When I created Quirke, he was 6ft 6in and blond. But then a woman reader wrote to me and said, 'Why do you keep saying his hair is blond? It's not.”In their words30 June 2013Ciara Dwyer. John Banville: Who cares whodunnit?, The Daily BeastRead the whole statement

Austrian State Prize for European LiteratureAward2011Franz Kafka PrizeAward2007Fellow of the Royal Society of LiteratureAward2005Booker PrizeAward2003International Nonino PrizeAward1976James Tait Black Memorial PrizeAward1945Born8 December 1945

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Banville in Spain in 2017

In their own words 4

John Banville

4 statements, newest first

I never learned the names of the streets because I couldn't wait to get out. It was too small and I was bored.
30 June 2013 · Ciara Dwyer. John Banville: Who cares whodunnit?, The Daily Beast, Own words
I don't know anything about myself. Put it this way, there is no self. I believe that we're a compendium of personalities. We're whoever we meet.
30 June 2013 · Ciara Dwyer. John Banville: Who cares whodunnit?, The Daily Beast, Own words
I often think that there was nothing more exciting and erotic than getting a glimpse of a woman's leg at the top of her stockings.
30 June 2013 · Ciara Dwyer. John Banville: Who cares whodunnit?, The Daily Beast, Own words