The
Short Review:
How long did it take you to write all the stories in your collections?
Nuala
Ní Chonchúir: First one, The Wind
Across the Grass: This was six years work; I wasn’t working
towards collecting them. Arlen House had published my first poetry
collection in an anthology, Divas, with two collections from
established writers; I was the newbie. They then asked to see my
stories and decided to do a book of them.
Second one, To The World of Men, Welcome: 18 months. I had a prolific
splurge. I gave up my job in a Writers’ Centre and decided to
try full-time writing. I moved to a house in the country and there were
fewer distractions there and more time. Arlen House took that one too.
TSR: Did you
have a collection in mind when you were writing them?
NNC:
No. I don’t consciously write in
themes, or with a book in mind. I write whatever pops out. But, in
retrospect, my first collection was dominated by water and childhood.
My second by love-gone-wrong.
TSR: How did
you choose which stories to include and in what order?
NNC: They
say put strong stories first and last, so I tried for that in The Wind
Across the Grass. In To The World of Men, Welcome, I wanted the title
story first, but my publisher wanted it last. He’s in charge,
so he won. I left out the stories that I had that I thought were
drossy, the ‘so what’ ones. Richard Ford calls
these ‘minor aesthetic nullities’. I think all
writers dread writing a lot of those…
TSR: Do you
have a "reader" in mind when you write stories?
NNC: Never.
I’m not thinking of anything but the story as I write it, or
as it’s stewing around in my brain. I’m sure people
who generally like my work read some of my stories and think they are
stinkers. I do that a lot; I mean, I read a book by an author I love,
and don’t quite love everything. If I had one reader in mind,
he or she might be as fickle as that. It’s hard enough
pleasing myself, why bring anyone else into the equation?
TSR: Is there
anything you'd like to ask someone who has read your
collection,
anything at all?
NNC:
I suppose, “If you liked it, what appealed to you the
most?” And, “Please, if you did like it, tell a
friend!”
TSR: How does it feel knowing that people are buying your books?
NNC:
Exposing, but not as exposing as when they read my poetry which is
generally all about me. The fiction is less personal, more distant, and
more satisfying for that. I like making things up! Of course,
it’s nice that people invest their money and time in your
work. A writer I know told me she’d borrowed my book in a
small Dublin library. As a lover of libraries, that was thrilling!
TSR: What are
you working on now?
NNC:
More nasty, funny, sensuous, dark stories; I’ve a third
collection on the way. More melancholic poetry. I’m also
translating Cathal Ó Searcaigh’s beautiful
Irish-language love poems to English for a collection he has coming
out. 7
