Ronan Bennett
Ronan Bennett (born 14 January 1956 in Newtownabbey ) is a Northern Irish writer. He has also worked as a screenwriter in the UK and the USA. In addition, Bennett writes regularly for The Guardian and The Observer.
Life and work
Bennett grew up in Belfast in a Catholic family. Although he wrote in English, he sees himself as Irish author. In his stories Bennett treated again the fate of people who suddenly fall into hopeless situations without any fault. Bennett himself was arrested as a teenager after a demonstration in his hometown and sentenced in 1974 for the murder of an inspector of the Royal Ulster Constabulary wrongly. In his novels he attacks so far partly autobiographical aspects. In 1975, the conviction was overturned, however, against him and Bennett released from prison.
Bennett received his doctorate in 1987 at King's College in London. For the gangster movie Face of 1997 he wrote the screenplay. He lives with his family in London.
Reception
Bennett's novel The Catastrophist came in 1998 shortlisted for the Whitbread Book Award, Havoc in its Third Year In 2005 he received the award Irish Novel of the Year.
In his novel Zugzwang (2007) the figure of Avrom Rozental is the historic chess champion Akiba Rubinstein modeled. The fictional story is set in Saint Petersburg at times of international chess tournament in 1914, will be in deciding on the challenger of the German world chess champion Emanuel Lasker. Zugzwang first appeared in 2006 as a serial novel in The Observer.
" A thriller with a complex plot and subtle allusions, reminiscent of Graham Greene "
Works (selection)
- Havoc, in its third year. Bloomsbury, London 2004, ISBN 0-7475-6249-0.
- Overthrown by strangers. Review Publ, London 2005, ISBN 0-7472-6820-7.
- The second prison. Hamilton Books, London, 1991, ISBN 0-241-13087-5.
- About the dark river ("The catastrophist "). Goldmann, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-442-72651-4.
- Zugzwang. Roman ( " tight spot "). Taschednbuchverlag Berlin, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-8333-0565-8. Zugzwang. Audiobook. Hörverlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-86717-180-9 (4 CDs, read by Hans Kremer ).