1. Damian Leighton Barr was born on 20 July 1976 and is a Scottish writer and broadcaster.
17 Facts About Damian Barr
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Damian Barr is the creator and host of the Literary Salon, which started at Shoreditch House in 2008, and he hosts live literary events worldwide.
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Damian Barr has hosted several television series including Shelf Isolation and most recently The Big Scottish Book Club for BBC Scotland.
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Damian Barr is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
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In 2020 Barr completed his PhD in Creative Writing at Lancaster University.
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Damian Barr is the author of three award-winning books and several radio plays, and has contributed to several well-known collections.
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In 2017 Damian Barr received an award from the Arts Council England to complete research on his novel in South Africa.
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In 2018 Damian Barr received a University of Otago Scottish Writers Fellowship, which saw him based at the Pah Homestead in Auckland, New Zealand where he edited the novel.
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Damian Barr has been a columnist for The Times, Sunday Times and The Big Issue, and wrote the travel column Novel Destinations for High Life Magazine.
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Damian Barr is a frequent guest on BBC Radio 4 and has hosted Front Row, with interviewees including Dolly Parton, Javier Marias and Brad Pitt.
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In October 2019, Damian Barr was on Sky Arts co-hosting the first ever live coverage of the Cheltenham Literature Festival along with Andi Oliver, Miquita Oliver and Simon Savidge.
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In 2019, Damian Barr hosted The Big Scottish Book Club.
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In June 2020, Damian Barr publicly raised questions about the suitability of Baroness Emma Nicholson as honorary vice president of the Booker Prize, a prestigious annual literary prize.
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The revelations led to much criticism; the Savoy Hotel, which Damian Barr is the literary ambassador for, condemned the comments.
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Damian Barr started the campaign to save Newarthill Library in 2016 receiving support from Ian Rankin, Armistead Maupin, Val McDermid, Sathnam Sanghera among others.
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Damian Barr worked closely with the local community who ran the campaign and who now work closely with the library running events and activities there.
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Damian Barr is a Trustee at Gladstone's Library, a Patron of the young people's writing charity Little Green Pig and a Schools Ambassador for Stonewall.