Carlo Gébler

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	Photo: © David Barker

Biography

Carlo Gébler was born in Dublin in 1954 and brought up in London. He studied English at the University of York and the practice of film-making at the National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield. He is the son of novelist Edna O'Brien.

He is the author of a range of books, his novels including The Eleventh Summer (1985); Work and Play (1987); Life of a Drum (1991); The Cure (1994); How to Murder a Man (1998) and A Good Day For A Dog (2008). His collection of short stories, W9 and Other Lives, was published in 1996. He also writes for children and young adults, his latest books being August '44 (2003) and The Bull Raid (2005).  His non-fiction books are two travel books: Driving through Cuba: an east-west journey (1988); and The Glass Curtain: Inside an Ulster community (1991). He has also written a book of history, The Siege of Derry (2005), which gives an account of Derry's 105-day struggle against the Jacobite army in 1689.

Carlo Gébler also writes plays: Dance of Death (2000), a version of August Strinberg's work of the same name;  10 Rounds (2002), an adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's La Ronde, relocated to Belfast; and Henry and Harriet:And Other Plays (2007). He contributes reviews, articles and short stories to many national publications, has written a libretto for opera, and is a film-maker, and producer and director of television documentaries.

In 2000 he published an autobiography, Father and I: a memoir. In 2008 he co-authored My Father's Watch: The Story of a Child Prisoner in 70s Britain with Patrick Maguire. He lives outside Eniskillen in Northern Ireland and teaches creative writing at HMP Maghaberry, where he is writer-in-residence.

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Genres (in alphabetical order)

Children, Drama, Fiction, Literary criticism, Non-fiction, Radio drama, Screenplay, Travel

Bibliography

The Eleventh Summer   Hamish Hamilton, 1985

August in July   Hamish Hamilton, 1986

Work and Play   Hamish Hamilton, 1987

Driving through Cuba: an east-west journey   Hamish Hamilton, 1988

The TV Genie   Hamish Hamilton, 1989

Malachy and his Family   Hamish Hamilton, 1990

Life of a Drum   Hamish Hamilton, 1991

The Glass Curtain: inside an Ulster community   Hamish Hamilton, 1991

The Witch That Wasn't   (illustrated by V. Littlewood)   Hamish Hamilton, 1991

The Cure   Hamish Hamilton, 1994

W9 and Other Lives   Lagan Press, 1996

Frozen Out   Mammoth, 1998

How to Murder a Man   Little, Brown, 1998

The Base   (illustrated by Dan Williams)   Mammoth, 1999

Dance of Death   (adaptation)   Lagan Press, 2000

Father and I: a memoir   Little, Brown, 2000

Caught on a Train   Mammoth, 2001

10 Rounds   (adaptation)   Lagan Press, 2002

August '44   Egmont, 2003

The Bull Raid   Egmont, 2005

The Siege of Derry   Little, Brown, 2005

Henry and Harriet: And Other Plays   Lagan Press, 2007

A Good Day For A Dog   Lagan Press, 2008

My Father's Watch: The Story of a Child Prisoner in 70s Britain   (with Patrick Maguire)   Fourth Estate, 2008

Read about books by Carlo Gébler at encompassculture.com - the British Council's book database and global online book club

Buy books by Carlo Gébler at Amazon.co.uk

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Prizes and awards

2001   Bisto Prize (Ireland)   (merit prize)   Caught on a Train

2002   Ewart-Biggs Prize   (shortlist)   Ten Rounds

2003   Bisto Prize (Ireland)   (shortlist)   August '44

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Author statement

As a child I loved to read and to be read to.  I loved the tranced feeling that came when I got lost in a story.  I still look for that when I read now I am an adult (though I don’t always find it) and I also seek to give that feeling to my readers, whether they’re adults or children.  I regard myself primarily as a storyteller who tells tales – whether true or made up or appropriated from folk-lore (I’m not fussy).  My primary ambition is to give readers imaginary worlds in which they can lose themselves (and of course these worlds needn’t necessarily be friendly or benign). And if what I write does more for the reader than give this momentary pleasure, well, that’s a lovely bonus.

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Contact information

Publisher (General enquiries) Little, Brown Book Group 100, Victoria Embankment London  EC4Y 0DY England Tel: +44 (0)20 7911 8000 Fax: +44 (0)20 7911 8100 E-mail: info@littlebrown.co.uk http://www.littlebrown.co.uk

Agent Antony Harwood Ltd 103 Walton Street Oxford  OX2 6EB England Tel: +44 (0)1865 559 615 Fax: +44 (0)1865 310 660 E-mail: mail@antonyharwood.com http://www.antonyharwood.com

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