David Park

To mark his literary archive becoming part of The Linen Hall’s collections, we welcome acclaimed novelist David Park in a career-retrospective conversation with Hugh Odling-Smee.

David Park’s work has illuminated Northern Ireland’s people and politics since his debut novel The Healing (1992), which described a search for healing against a background of sectarian conflict.

Among his most celebrated novels are The Truth Commissioner (2008), which imagined a South African-style truth and reconciliation process in Northern Ireland; and Spies in Canaan (2022), a masterful exploration of how guilt and memory can resurface in old age.

David Park has won numerous awards including The Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year.

Photo credit: Bobbie Hanvey