A transient in the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822 (Barnard's Galaxy) was discovered on 2017 August 2 and is only the second classical nova discovered in that galaxy. We conducted optical, near-ultraviolet, and X-ray follow-up observations of the eruption, the results of which we present here. This 'very fast' nova had a peak V-band magnitude in the range −7.41 > M V > −8.33 mag, with decline times of t 2,V = 8.1 ± 0.2 d and t 3,V = 15.2 ± 0.3 d. The early-and late-time spectra are consistent with an Fe ii spectral class. The Hα emission line initially has a full width at halfmaximum intensity of ∼ 2400 km s −1 -a moderately fast ejecta velocity for the class. The Hα line then narrows monotonically to ∼ 1800 km s −1 by 70 d post-eruption. The lack of a pre-eruption coincident source in archival Hubble Space Telescope imaging implies that the donor is a main sequence, or possibly subgiant, star. The relatively low peak luminosity and rapid decline hint that AT 2017fvz may be a 'faint and fast' nova.