Colin Barrett was awarded the highly prestigious Rooney Prize for Literature last night. The Rooney Prize is awarded annually to a writer under the age of 40 who is judged to show exceptional promise. Earlier this year, he won the equally prestigious Frank O'Connor Short Story award - an international award which has been won by only one other Irish writer, Edna O'Brien. His book, Young Skins, has recently been longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. His success has been exceptional and outstanding and he is already recognized as one of our most promising young writers.

Colin's first book, which has garnered all this acclaim, is Young Skins. It was published by Stingling Fly in Dublin earlier this year, and also by Jonathan Cape, London.

Colin's first short story was published in the anthology of writing of the MA in Creative Writing, UCD, in 2009. That story was entitled 'Mule River'. He went on to publish stories in The Stinging Fly, which led to the publication of the collection, Young Skins.

Colin graduated from the MA in Creative Writing in UCD in 2009.

Irish Times article: (opens in a new window)http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/colin-barrett-wins-rooney-prize-for-young-skins-short-story-collection-1.1914612