Barry Hines author page

Barry Hines biography

Barry Hines was an English author and screenwriter, best known for his novel A Kestrel for a Knave, published in 1968. The novel was later adapted into the film Kes (1969), directed by Ken Loach, for which Hines co-wrote the screenplay. Hines attended Ecclesfield Grammar School and later studied at Loughborough College, qualifying as a teacher. He worked as a teacher before becoming a full-time writer.

Hines wrote several novels, including The Blinder (1966), First Signs (1972), The Gamekeeper (1975), Looks and Smiles (1981), Unfinished Business (1983), and Elvis Over England (1998). Many of his works explore working-class life in Northern England. The Gamekeeper was adapted into a film in 1980, and Looks and Smiles was also adapted for the screen, winning the Young Cinema Award at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.

Hines collaborated with Ken Loach on several television dramas, including The Price of Coal (1977) and Threads (1984), the latter depicting the effects of nuclear war on Sheffield. Threads received the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Single Drama in 1985.

Barry Hines’s work has been recognised for its contribution to British literature and film, with A Kestrel for a Knave remaining a set text in UK schools. His final novel, This Artistic Life, was published in 2009.