Biography

John Boyne is one of the most successful and critically acclaimed novelists of his generation. In a career spanning more than 30 years, he has published 17 novels for adults, 6 novels for younger readers, a short story collection, and a picture book.

His most famous book, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, was a New York Times No.1 Bestseller, and adapted for film, theatre, opera, and ballet, selling more than 11 million copies worldwide. It is used in schools on every continent to introduce young readers to their study of the Holocaust.

Among his many international bestsellers are The Heart’s Invisible Furies, A Ladder to the Sky, and All the Broken Places.

His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Observer, The Times Literary Supplement, The Irish Times, and in dozens of international newspapers and magazines.

He has won 4 Irish Book Awards, the Hennessy Literary ‘Hall of Fame’ Award, and many international literary prizes, including the Qué Leer Award for Novel of the Year in Spain and the Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize in Germany for his work on Holocaust Education. In 2015, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia.

His novels are published in 60 languages.

In November 2023, John published the first of a four novella sequence, Water, which was followed by Earth and Fire. Air will be published in May 2025. The sequence will be published in September 2025 in one volume, titled The Elements.

Bibliography

Novels:

  • 2000: The Thief of Time
  • 2001: The Congress of Rough Riders
  • 2004: Crippen
  • 2006: Next of Kin
  • 2008: Mutiny on the Bounty
  • 2009: The House of Special Purpose
  • 2011: The Absolutist
  • 2013: This House is Haunted
  • 2014: A History of Loneliness
  • 2017: The Heart’s Invisible Furies
  • 2018: A Ladder to the Sky
  • 2020: A Traveller at the Gates of Wisdom
  • 2021: The Echo Chamber
  • 2022: All the Broken Places
  • 2023: Water
  • 2024: Earth
  • 2024: Fire
  • 2025: Air (forthcoming, May ’25)
  • 2025: The Elements (forthcoming, September ’25 – collecting Water, Earth, Fire, and Air)

Novels for Younger Readers:

  • 2006: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
  • 2010: Noah Barleywater Runs Away
  • 2012: The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket
  • 2013: Stay Where You Are and Then Leave
  • 2015: The Boy at the Top of the Mountain
  • 2019: My Brother’s Name is Jessica

Picture Books:

  • 2024: The Dog Who Danced on the Moon

Short Story Collections:

  • 2015: Beneath the Earth

Short Books:

  • 2008: The Second Child
  • 2009: The Dare