Anna Burns

Anna Burns grew up in Ardoyne, a primarily working class and Irish Catholic region of Belfast. There, she attended primary and secondary, growing up during the Troubles, a tumultuous period in Northern Irish history. Burns’s upbringing would have an immense impact on her future writing, including her most famous and most recent novel, Milkman (2018). Burns lived in Belfast until 1987, when she moved to London. Burns published her first novel, No Bones, in 2001, The novel follows a young girl growing up in Belfast during the Troubles. No Bones was a moderate success at the time and has become known for its ability to capture the everyday language in Belfast. Burns followed No Bones with Little Constructions (2007), her only novel that does not explicitly deal with the Troubles. Like Milkman, Little Constructions is a seriocomic exploration of the nature of violence and power. Burn’s most recent novel, Milkman, won her the prestigious Man Booker Award in 2018.