Kennedy, Brian 1966- (Brian Edward Patrick Kennedy)

PERSONAL:

Born October 12, 1966, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Ireland.

CAREER:

Singer, songwriter, and novelist. Recordings include The Great War of Words, 1990; A Better Man, 1996; Now That I Know What I Want, 1999; Get On with Your Short Life, 2002; On Song, 2003; On Song 2, 2005; and Homebird, 2006.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Irish Music Industry Award for best Irish male album and Hot Press/2TV Award for best Irish male artist, both for A Better Man, 1996; D.Litt., University of Ulster, 2006.

WRITINGS:

The Arrival of Fergal Flynn, Hodder Headline (London, England), 2006.

Roman Song, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 2006.

Contributor of short stories to Black Mountain Review.

SIDELIGHTS:

Brian Kennedy first rose to prominence in his native Ireland as a singer, releasing his first solo album in 1990, spending six years traveling with Van Morrison's Blues and Soul World Tour, and releasing a number of highly successful solo albums in succession between 1996 and 2006. Gaining a worldwide audience, Kennedy was selected a number of times to perform for former U.S. president Bill Clinton, chosen to perform on Broadway with the show Riverdance, and hired to host a television music show. In the early 2000s, Kennedy ventured into a new branch of artistic expression: writing. His short stories were anthologized in a number of Irish collections, and not long after, he was offered a two-book publishing deal.

Kennedy's first novel, The Arrival of Fergal Flynn, is based loosely on experiences he had as a child. The protagonist is a young man growing up in 1980s Belfast, amidst the violence of war and the negligence and abuse of a dysfunctional family. A burgeoning friendship with a local priest helps the teen to discover his talent for singing and also to explore his sexual identity. The novel's sequel, Roman Song, finds Fergal traveling to Rome to study singing with a famed opera star. The story follows his attempts to adjust to a new city, establish a musical career, and find love. Writing for RTÉ Online, Katie Moten remarked that "Kennedy's humour and honesty combine to make him a natural storyteller and his first book a moving and enjoyable read." In Roman Song, Moten appreciated the "very heartfelt moments."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

ONLINE

Brian Kennedy Home Page,http://briankennedy.co.uk (March 26, 2007).

RTÉ,http://www.rte.ie/ (September 10, 2004), Katie Moten, review of The Arrival of Fergal Flynn; (January 31, 2006), Katie Moten, review of Roman Song.