DBC Pierre facts for kids

Quick facts for kids DBC Pierre
Born	Peter Warren Finlay 1961 (age 63–64) Old Reynella, South Australia
Pen name	DBC Pierre
Occupation	Novelist
Period	2003–present
Genre	Satire, dark comedy, allegory
Notable works	Vernon God Little

Peter Warren Finlay (born in 1961), known as DBC Pierre, is an Australian author. He is famous for his first novel, Vernon God Little.

Pierre was born in South Australia but grew up mostly in Mexico. He has lived in the Republic of Ireland and, as of 2020, lives in Cambridgeshire, England.

In 2003, Pierre won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for Vernon God Little. He was the third Australian-born author to receive this award. That same year, he also won the Whitbread First Novel Award. This made him the first writer to win both the Man Booker and Whitbread awards for the same book! His book also won the Bollinger Wodehouse Everyman Prize for funny literature. He also received a James Joyce Award from University College Dublin.

Early Life and Growing Up

DBC Pierre was born in Old Reynella, South Australia. His father was teaching about genetics at the University of Adelaide. By the time Pierre was two, he had already lived in the United States, the South Pacific, and Great Britain.

He spent most of his childhood and early adult years in Mexico City. He went to school at the Edron Academy there. In 2004, a TV show called Imagine even visited his childhood home in Mexico.

Pierre remembers visiting Durham, England, almost every year in July to see the Durham Miners Gala. When he was seven, he became sick with hepatitis and had to stay in bed for a year. After he got better, his parents let him stay with his class in school, even though he had missed a year. He felt this was when things became difficult for him, as he struggled to keep up with his friends.

His father, who was a pilot in World War II, later worked with Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman E. Borlaug. Pierre's father became ill when Pierre was sixteen and passed away three years later.

Middle Years and Challenges

Pierre's time living in Mexico ended when he tried to bring a sports car across the border. Mexico had strict rules about importing foreign cars. He managed to cross with the car, but his papers were canceled. This border crossing experience is even described in his novel, Vernon God Little.

Pierre faced many challenges in his twenties. He described this time as very difficult. He was lucky to be in Australia when he needed help. He said the support there was amazing and helped him through a tough period.

During his twenties, he also worked on a film project. It was about the fall of the Aztec Empire and the search for the lost treasure of Emperor Moctezuma. This treasure is still one of Mexico's great mysteries.

In the 1990s, he wrote his first novel while living in London. He signed a deal to publish Vernon God Little on September 11, 2001. After that, he moved to County Leitrim, Ireland, and started working on his second book. When he won the Man Booker Prize, the award money helped him pay off debts from his difficult twenties. His pen name, DBC Pierre, stands for "Dirty but clean," referring to his past struggles and new beginnings.

Recent Works and Adaptations

In 2005, DBC Pierre returned to Mexico to explore the history of the Aztecs. He made a documentary for Channel 4 called The Last Aztec, which aired in 2006. In this film, he followed the path of the Spanish conquistadors as they advanced toward the Aztec capital. He also looked into the ancient Otomi culture in the Sierra Madre mountains.

In 2007, his first novel, Vernon God Little, was turned into a play for the London stage. It was directed by Rufus Norris at the Young Vic theatre. Since then, the book has been translated into more than 40 languages and performed by many different theatre groups around the world.

In 2009, he contributed a short story called "Suddenly Dr Cox" to a project for Oxfam. He also wrote for a book about the rock band The Triffids called Vagabond Holes: David McComb and the Triffids.

Published Books

Novels

• Vernon God Little (January 2003)
• Ludmila's Broken English (February 2006)
• Lights Out in Wonderland (September 2010)
• Breakfast with the Borgias (July 2014)
• Meanwhile in Dopamine City (August 2020)

Non-fiction

• Release the Bats (July 2016)

Short Stories

• Suddenly Doctor Cox (May 2009)
• Petit Mal (November 2013)

See also

In Spanish: DBC Pierre para niños