Hugo Hamilton (Dublin 1953)

Hugo Hamilton is the best-selling author of THE SPECKLED PEOPLE (4th Estate),  a German-Irish memoir of growing up in Dublin during the 50s/60s with a fervent Irish nationalist father and German mother who came to Ireland in the aftermath of World War 2.  The memoir has found resonance right across the globe and has been translated into 20 languages.

Hailed as an ‘instant classic’ by Roy Foster, his account of German-Irish childhood addresses all the ‘great issues of the 20th century’(Nuala O'Faolain).  Joseph O'Connor  described  THE SPECKELED PEOPLE as a ‘book for our times and perhaps for all time’.  It won the prestigious PRIX FEMINA etranger in France, as well as the BERTO PRIZE in Italy, and appeared on the New York Times notable books list.

His equally ‘rich and compelling’ second memoir The Sailor in the Wardrobe which continues this complex dual upbringing in a ‘language war` where he was prohibited from speaking English, has also been praised an ‘enchanting piece of work’ (Terry Eagleton).

He is the acclaimed author of two memoirs, seven novels and one collection of short stories, all of which reflect on the increasingly compelling issues of cultural divisions, belonging and identity.  His latest novel HAND IN THE FIRE (4th Estate) is published April 2010.  Hugo Hamilton lives in Dublin.

Photo Copyright Schleyer