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NicholasRoyle.com
Nicholas Royle is author of five novels, one
short story collection and has edited thirteen anthologies. He teaches
creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. Each of the
contributors to the anthology were born in 1968.
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Interview
with Nicholas Royle
The
Short Review:
How long did it take to get together all the stories in the anthology?
Nicholas Royle: It
didn't take very long to put together. It couldn't really. I had the
idea quite late in the day, but Salt had the flexibility and the
enthusiasm necessary to turn it around quickly. Six months maybe? I
can't remember.
TSR: Where did the idea for the anthology come from?
NR: My
friend Gareth Evans, a brilliant curator, publisher, editor, writer and
cultural facilitator, told me that he and Verena Stackelberg were
planning a season of talks, exhibitions and screenings to mark the 40th
anniversary of the events of 1968. I saw an opportunity for a
worthwhile anthology that could be launched as part of their season,
All Power to the Imagination: 1968 and its Legacies.
TSR:
How did
you choose which stories to include and in what order?
NR: Because
of the concept, I had made it hard – and in another way easy – for
myself from the start. The number of writers I could approach was
limited. I could only ask writers who'd been born in 1968. Furthermore,
I would only want to approach writers who I felt were as close as
possible to sure-fire bets in terms of whether they would come up with
something really good, something worth publishing. As for the running
order, I always spend ages working out what I think is the best order,
but I don't know why I bother because I know whenever I read an
anthology I don't read from start to finish. I read the shortest
stories first. But I put Kerry Watson's story last because it had the
right emotional weight to come at the end.
TSR:
What
does the word "story"
mean to you?
NR:
A story is something I can get momentarily lost inside. It's a whole
world with its own rules. It's an opportunity to surrender yourself
completely to someone who knows absolutely what they are doing and to
have an experience from which you might – just might – emerge
transformed. Or at least have felt moved in some way.
TSR:
Did you have a reader in mind when putting together this anthology?
NR:
The only reader I have in mind when editing an anthology is myself.
TSR: Is
there
anything you'd like to ask someone who has read the anthology?
NR: I'd ask them what they liked and didn't like.
TSR: How does
it feel knowing that people are buying your book?
NR:
I can just about remember – it feels like the most amazing privilege
and honour. It makes me feel proud and humble at the same time.
TSR:
What are you working on now?
NR: I'm working on a novel called Either Or,
thinking about a new anthology and slowly writing stories for a new
collection. I'm also running a small press, Nightjar Press, dedicated
to publishing single short story chapbooks. The first two were
published in September 2009. Two more are due at the end of March 2010,
with another two, hopefully, in the autumn.
TSR:
What are
the three most recent short story collections you've read?
NR Henning Mankell's The Pyramid, James Lasdun's The Silver Age, Joel Lane's The Terrible Changes
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