From A Long Long Way, his Booker shortlisted novel about the Irish soldiers who fought for Britain during the First World War to his Donal McCann starring hit-play, The Steward of Christendom; from his first Costa Book of the Year novel The Secret Scripture to his second, Days Without End, a decade later, Sebastian Barry’s writing career has been as long and varied as it has extraordinary.

Intimate, revealing and generous of heart, these three lectures – written and delivered as part of his three year tenure as the Laureate for Irish fiction – reflect on his life and career so far, some of the formative moments and people he’s met along the way, and the ongoing importance of creativity.