7 Mar 2020

Damian Barr: Maggie & Me author on his debut novel

From Saturday Morning, 8:10 am on 7 March 2020

Damian Barr is an award-winning Scottish writer whose 2013 coming of age memoir Maggie & Me (about growing up gay in Thatcher-era Scotland), was The Sunday Times' Memoir of the Year.

Barr writes columns for The Big Issue and often appears on BBC Radio 4. He is creator and host of his own Literary Salon that premieres work from established and emerging writers.

He's recently released his debut novel, You Will Be Safe Here, which weaves together twin narratives; of internment during the Second Boer War a war in South Africa, and of a young man's experience at a modern day training camp in the same country.

This week he made speaking appearances in Wellington and Dunedin.

Damian Barr and the cover of his book "You Will Be Safe Here"

Damian Barr and the cover of his book "You Will Be Safe Here" Photo: supplied / Jonathan Ring