Sebastian Barry, the acclaimed Irish author, has spoken candidly about the profound changes in Ireland’s social fabric, particularly regarding race and migration. Reflecting on his childhood in the 1950s, Barry describes Ireland as an overwhelmingly white and insular society, with very few people of color or ethnic minorities. "There were probably a dozen Chinese. There were only Italians in Ireland because of the fish and chip shops. There was one boy at my school who was probably biracial, and that was it," he recalled. This stark homogeneity, he says, has given way in recent decades to what he characterizes as a troubling rise in racism linked to the country’s evolving experience with migrants and asylum seekers.

Barry expressed disappointment and sadness over what he views as "heartbreaking" levels of racial intolerance developing in Ireland. The nation, he noted, has experienced significant emigration throughout the 20th century, losing hundreds of thousands during the 1950s and again during the 1980s economic downturn. Yet the arrival of new communities, especially Africans in Dublin’s Parnell Street, has not always been met with the hoped-for inclusivity. "I thought, ‘Thank God, they’ve arrived. Things are going to improve,’ but then I saw this other thing — this hatred," he said.

Currently promoting his latest novel, *The Newer World*, Barry discussed the book’s themes of race, identity, and history. Written in the voice of Tennyson Bouguereau, a freed slave navigating post-Civil War America, the novel marks Barry’s 12th published work. He acknowledged potential criticism over his choice to inhabit the perspective of an African-American character but defended his approach by referencing his previous literary practice of adopting diverse voices. Barry highlighted that in earlier novels he has written from the perspectives of gay men, elderly women, and Native American girls, emphasizing his commitment to broadening narrative scope and empathy in literature.

Barry sees *The Newer World* as an effort to restore agency and dignity to historically marginalized figures. “There has been an enormous effort to infantilize and diminish the people who came from Africa in the ships,” he said. His intention was to position Tennyson as a "glorious exemplar," a central figure with a fully realized humanity rather than a peripheral or caricatured presence. Drawing inspiration from Homer’s *Odyssey*, the novel traces Tennyson’s journey across America and into Victorian England, with literary references woven throughout, including a quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem *Ulysses*.

Barry’s lifelong engagement with history and personal identity informs much of his work. He comes from a complex family background reflecting conflicting Irish and British legacies, including a great-grandfather who was a British Army major and a paternal grandfather who was an Irish Nationalist. This duality has influenced his writing since his 1993 play *The Steward of Christendom*. Barry’s childhood experiences, including his separation from his parents at a young age, continue to resonate in his novels, such as *Annie Dunne*.

Now aged 71, Barry remains closely connected to his publisher Faber & Faber, where he has maintained the same editor and publicist for over 25 years. He described his creative process as deeply tied to memory and the collective past, quoting from *Annie Dunne* to express the paradox of life’s fleeting nature and its lasting significance. For Barry, the ordinary details of life, though seemingly unimportant, form the fabric of survival and meaning, providing the "urgent responsibility to do it as well as we can."