Conor Kostick

Conor Kostick (born 26 June 1964) is an Irish historian and writer living in Dublin. He is the author of many works of history and fiction. A former chairperson of the Irish Writers Union and member of the board of the National Library of Ireland, he has won a number of awards.

Conor Kostick
Kostick in 2007
Kostick in 2007
BornConor Kostick
(1964-06-26) 26 June 1964
Chester, Cheshire, England
OccupationWriter, historian
CitizenshipIrish
GenreFantasy, science fiction, LitRPG, children's literature
Notable worksEpic

Early life

Conor Kostick is the eldest of two boys born to teachers Gerrie and Marjorie Kostick in Chester, England. His father was Jewish-Irish, brought up in Dublin but having moved to the UK in the 1950s, where he became a physical education teacher, while his mother was a teacher of maths.[1] One set of grandparents were Polish Jews, who moved to Ireland to escape pogroms.[2]

Career

Conor Kostick was the editor of Socialist Worker in Ireland and a reviewer for the Journal of Music in Ireland.[3]

A historian, he holds a doctorate, and has lectured and researched at Trinity College Dublin.[3] He has been awarded research fellowships by the Irish Research Council and the University of Nottingham.[4]

In August 2018, he was recruited by the UK's Ockham Publishing to lead a new imprint, Level Up publishing, with a remit to publish LitRPG.[5]

Notable works

Epic, a LitRPG volume, was his first novel and was awarded a place on the International Board on Books for Young People Honours list for 2006[6] and on the Booklist Best Fantasy Books for Youth list for 2007.[7] It sold more than 100,000 copies.[4] The sequel to Epic is Saga, first published in Ireland late in 2006; Edda, published 5 years later, in 2011, completed the 'Avatar Chronicles' trilogy.[8]

Games

Conor Kostick was a designer for the world's first live action role-playing game, Treasure Trap.[9]

Other roles

Kostick was twice chairperson of the Irish Writers Union. He was awarded the Farmleigh writer's residency for the summer of 2010.[10][4] In 2015, Kostick was made chairperson of the Irish Copyright Licensing Agency.

He was President of the Irish Jury for the EU Prize for Literature in 2015,[11] and in that year too he was appointed to the Board of the National Library of Ireland.[12]

In 2018, the Kerala Literature Festival, India, chose to showcase Irish literature and Conor Kostick was one of seven Irish writers invited to participate.[13] In 2019, Conor Kostick again was president of the Irish Jury of the EU Prize for Literature.[14]

Nominations and awards

At their 2009 awards, the Reading Association of Ireland gave Kostick the Special Merit Award 'in recognition of his significant contribution to writing for children in Ireland.'[8]

Kostick was a nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2012[15] and 2013.[16]

As a historian, Kostick's awards include a gold medal from Trinity College Dublin,[3] first prize in the 2001 Dublinia Medieval Essay Competition; fellowships from the Irish Research Council and the University of Nottingham; a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant;[17] and, in 2015, the British Academy's Rising Star Engagement Award.[18]

A former winner of Manorcon (2000), now one of Europe's grand prix Diplomacy events,[19] Conor Kostick was a member of the Irish team that won the Diplomacy National World Cup in 2012.[20]

Personal life

He is the brother of the playwright Gavin Kostick[21] and a member of Independent Left.[22]

Publications

The Avatar Chronicles
  • Epic (O'Brien Press, 2004; Viking Children's Books, Spring 2007).
  • Saga (O'Brien Press, 2009).
  • Edda (O'Brien Press/Viking Children's Books, 2011).

Other books of fiction
  • Move (O'Brien Press, 2008)
  • The Book of Curses (O'Brien Press, 2007, Curses & Magic, 2013).
  • The Book of Wishes (Curses & Magic, 2013).
  • Eternal Voyager (Curses & Magic, 2015).
  • The Dragon's Revenge (Level Up, 2019).
  • The Retreat (Red Stag, 2020).

As Oisin Muldowney
  • Summoned! To an RPG World (Curses & Magic, 2022).[23]

History
  • The Social Structure of the First Crusade (Brill, 2008).
  • Revolution in Ireland (Cork University Press, 2009 [1996]).
  • The Easter Rising, A Guide to Dublin in 1916 (Fifth Edition: O'Brien Press, 2009 [2000]), with Lorcan Collins.
  • The Siege of Jerusalem (Continuum, 2009).
  • Medieval Italy, Medieval and Early Modern Women – Essays in Honour of Christine Meek (Four Courts, 2010), editor.
  • The Crusades and the Near East: Cultural Histories (Routledge, 2010), editor.
  • Strongbow (O'Brien Press, 2013).
  • Michael O'Hanrahan (O'Brien Press, 2015).
  • Making the Medieval Relevant (De Gruyter, 2019), co-editor.[24]

On games
  • The Art of Correspondence in the Game of Diplomacy (Curses & Magic, 2015).
  • Inclusive Yard Games: With Rule Changes for Visually Impaired Players (Curses & Magic, 2020), co-author with Maya Kostick.

Other non-fiction books
  • Irish Writers Against War (O'Brien Press, 2003), co-editor with Katherine Moore.

References
  1. Smith, Andrea (16 September 2013). "When it all suddenly rhymed". Independent.ie. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  2. "In Conversation: Sanctuary with Gavin and Conor Kostick". Phibsborough Public Library. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  3. "Bloomsbury Author Info". Bloomsbury. 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  4. "Conor Kostick | Childrens Books Ireland". childrensbooksireland.ie. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  5. "Author to Commissioning Editor: Conor Kostick at Level Up Publishing". writing.ie. 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  6. "Honour List 2006". International Board on Books for Young People. 2006. Retrieved 9 June 2007.
  7. Mattson, Jennifer (15 May 2007). Top 10 Fantasy Books for Youth: 2007. Booklist Online. Retrieved 9 June 2007.
  8. "Two Awards for O'Brien Press Books". O'Brien Press Blog. 26 September 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2009.
  9. "Treasure Trap and LARP". Level Up Publishing. 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  10. "Farmleigh Writer's Residency". Office of Public Works. 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  11. "EU Prize for Literature national juries". EU Prize for Literature. 2015. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  12. "National Library of Ireland Board 2015". National Library of Ireland. 2015. Archived from the original on 16 November 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  13. "Kerala Literature Festival from February 8". The Hindu. 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  14. "EU Prize for Literature national juries". EU Prize for Literature. 2019. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  15. "Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2012 Candidates". Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. 2012. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  16. "Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2013 Candidates". Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. 2013. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  17. "Marie Curie Career Integration Grant Aids Weather Pattern Research". The University of Nottingham. 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
  18. "British Academy award for Conor Kostick". The University of Nottingham. 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  19. "Manorcon results 2000". Diplomatic Pouch. 2000. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  20. "World Diplomacy Team Championship results 2012". Stabbeurfou.org. 2012. Archived from the original on 24 May 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  21. Kostick, Conor (2008). The Social Structure of the First Crusade. Leiden: Brill. p. ix.
  22. "Features by Conor Kostick". Independent Left. 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  23. "Writing a Web Serial". Irish Writers Union. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  24. Kostick, Conor (2019). Making the Medieval Relevant. Berlin: De Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-054631-6.
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