Parks was born in Belfast in 1953.[2] He grew up in a Protestant working-class family in East Belfast,[3] going on to attend Queen's University, Belfast, where to was awarded a BA degree in 1975.[2] He then worked as a teacher in County Down,[4] during which time he wrote seven novels before retiring to write full time.[3][5]
Writing career
Park's first book, a collection of short stories entitled Oranges from Spain, was published in 1990, when he was 37 years of age.[6] Following that, he wrote six novels while still working as a teacher.[3] All of those novels and stories were set in Northern Ireland and dealt in some way with the Troubles.[3]
By the time he published his eighth book (The Light of Amsterdam) in 2022, Park had retired from teaching.[3]
Before publishing his novels, Park published a volume of poetry with two co-authors. He has also had poetry published elsewhere.[7]
Adaptations
In 2016, a filmed adaptation of Park's novel The Truth Commissioner was broadcast by the BBC.[8] The book was adapted for the screen by Eoin O'Callaghan, directed by Declan Recks, and Roger Allam played the lead role.[9] Filming took place in a number of locations in Northern Ireland between February and April 2015.[10]
An adaptation of the same book had previously been broadcast in January 2008 on BBC Radio 4 in the Book at Bedtime slot.[11] The programme was repeated on Radio 4 Extra in May 2011.[12] Another of his books, Travelling in a Strange Land, was adapted for Book at Bedtime in August 2018.[13] That book was also the prompt for a creative collaboration with the photographer Sonya Whitefield, which was published on the web and exhibited at the Market Place Theatre, Armagh, in July 2018.[14][15][16]
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