John Boyne was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1971, and studied English Literature at Trinity College, Dublin, and creative writing at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, where he was awarded the Curtis Brown prize.
He has written a number of short stories; his first story, The Entertainments Jar, was shortlisted for the Hennessy Literary Award in Ireland.
His 2006 novel, The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, was made into an award-winning Miramax film. The novel itself won 2 Irish Book Awards, the Bisto Book of the Year, and was shortlisted or won a host of international awards. Amongst other accolades, it spent more than 80 weeks at no.1 in Ireland, topped the New York Times Bestseller List, and was the bestselling book in Spain in both 2007 and 2008. Worldwide, it has sold more than 5 million copies.
His novels are published in 46 languages.
His most recent novel was a children’s book, The Terrible Thing that happened to Barnaby Brocket, which was published in the UK in August 2012.
A new novel for adults, This House is Haunted, will be published in July 2013.