Uncovering the Secrets to Anne Griffin’s Captivating Books

Anne Griffin is an Irish writer and author of the novels ‘The Island of Longing’, ‘When All Is Said’, and ‘Listening Still’. Her books have been translated into several languages and have been praised for their emotional depth, beautiful writing, and unforgettable characters. She was awarded the Newcomer of the year at the Irish Book awards 2019 for her debut novel ‘When All Is Said’.

Firstly Anne, please share with readers a little about yourself?

I’m fifty-four, started writing exactly ten years ago. By some miracle I’ve written and published three books which completely blows my mind. I’m an introverted pessimist – how I managed to get published with those credentials is any one’s guess – married to an optimistic extrovert, you can image how that goes.

I am passionate about great writing and the fruits of my labours in my polytunnel, right now I am trying to coax my cucumbers, tomatoes, beetroot, garlic, and fennel into productivity. I fear dentists and failing. Actually, I’m better when I fail, it’s a comfortable place, because bizarrely I like the challenge of turning that around. When I succeed I am at a loss as to what to do next.

Do you have stories about your time as a bookseller for Waterstones in Dublin?

I started off as a non-fiction buyer with Waterstones in Dublin in its then iconic Dawson Street shop. Six floors of pure beauty. I had come in as a history graduate, not necessarily that interested in fiction but little by little those fiction buyers won me over and soon I was addicted to great authors like Carol Shields, William Trevor and Jay McInerney.

At the time I wasn’t interested in writing myself but many of my co-workers were: John Boyne, Audrey Magee, Sarah Webb and Paul Murray who joined just after I left but would meet in The Duke pub for the usual staff meet ups that for a while I continued to attend, actually that’s how I met my husband, also an ex-bookseller.

When did you decide to become a writer and what was the catalyst for that decision?

I’d left bookselling to retrain as a community development worker and thus started a twenty year career working for charities. After five years working at the coal face, I specialised in financial management.

As I got more and more involved in that, however, I felt as if I had lost a very special part of myself that joy of story, my hidden creative was crying out to be heard. It was during a conversation with John Boyne, who has remained a very good friend, when I admitted things weren’t quite right, that he suggested I write. I could feel the surge of adrenaline almost as soon as he said it. I haven’t looked back since.

What inspired you to write The Island of Longing?

Two things. I wanted to write a novel based on an island. While it is a fictional island, I was able to write from my own experience of Cape Clear Island which I have been visiting for thirty years, and where on a wonderful extended stay in 2013 I actually started to write. Islands are beautiful, quirky places and I wanted to bring that into the book.

I also wanted to explore a very difficult topic of what happens to a family, particularly a mother, when her child disappears right outside the front door. A hard topic but nothing as hard as the actual experiences so many families have gone through in reality.

What was the most challenging part of writing this book?

As it happens, the work flowed really well on this book. Each novel seems to bring a different experience, some can be hard to come into being, and others can just spill out as this one did. I did do quite a bit of research around children going missing and also about living on remote islands. Research always helps to set you on the right path.

Can you weigh in on the themes of grief, loss and hope that are explored in your novels?

I think every writer borrows from their lives but on the whole the big themes I cover haven’t necessarily been as present in my life as a reader might think. Of course, I have experienced loss but perhaps not to the extent I explore in my novels. It’s just something I relate to in the books I read, our vulnerabilities as human beings. I like to explore it, and the resilience that we hold, and especially our ability to laugh in times of difficulty. That’s why I love authors like Richard Russo, or Anne Tyler who do this so very well.

Can you give me the inside track on your novel Listening Still?

I’ll be honest, the magic realism took me by surprise. I don’t consider myself a magic realist writer. Of course, I love writers like Márquez and indeed at one stage was completely addicted to the works of Alice Hoffman.

But even so, when the dead started to talk to Jeanie, who is an undertaker, I was really quite surprised. It was a surreal moment, as if my fingers had typed it out before my brain had time to catch up. When I completed what I thought was a vaguely readable draft, I sent the book around to a few people to have a read and they all came back saying they really enjoyed that particular bit of the story.

So, the talking dead got to stay. I think people will enjoy the characters in the book, there are a myriad of quirky individuals that are in need of help from a woman who could do with quite of bit of assistance herself!

Your book When All is Said has a beautiful lyrical quality to it but is also firmly in the tradition of some of the greats of Irish literature. How have other Irish writers informed your writing?

How long have we got? I adore Anne Enright, Edna O’Brien, William Trevor, Bernard MacLaverty, David Park, Billy O’Callaghan, John McGahern, Claire Kilroy and they are just a few. They move me, simple as, and that’s what I want to do with my readers, make them feel something, let them see something of their own beauty and vulnerability in the characters I write.

What do you hope readers will take away from your books?

I simply want people to feel that the time they gave to the book was worth it. That it engrossed them. That they felt empathy. That they felt moved. Nothing more.

Take us through your writing routine?

It’s all observation. I spend my entire life watching and listening. I’m an introvert so am content to sit quietly anywhere even in a crowd without saying a word. Something I hear or see will simply stick. Something unusual, something that I find inviting that I know I could build from. My favourite place to scavenge is the arrivals hall in the airport, any airport.

My best writing time is in the morning. I find by the afternoon my energy for creativity has taken a bit of a dive, so I tend to just do boring admin things then.

If you had to invite your favourite authors to a dinner party who would that be and what would you ask them?

Hard one, toss-up between Richard Russo and Anne Tyler. I possibly wouldn’t ask them anything. It would be enough to sit in their presence and listen to them chat.

What are you currently working on and any new books on the horizon?

Book four is making its way into the world. I’m about twenty thousand words in and stuck. But that’s OK. I’m reading quite a bit at the minute. It’s kind of like meditation, it’s restful. My brain will figure a potential solution out one of these days and I’ll give it a whirl and see if it does the job.

Finally, any writerly words of wisdom you’d like to share for would-be writers?

I’m sure people have heard it all before but I guess, keep writing but mainly rewriting, no great novel was written in one take. Have a good crew of people around you who give constructive advice on your work, you need people. Do your homework about who you’d like to represent you.

When submitting make sure you follow their guidelines. But mostly don’t give up. To take one of my all-time favourite character’s lines from Donald Sullivan’s Nobody’s Fool, Everybody’s Fool and Somebody’s Fool..

‘Try something and if that doesn’t work, try something else.’

‘The Island of Longing’, ‘Listening Still’ and ‘When All Is Said’ are available worldwide.

Connect with Anne Griffin on: Twitter