Irish novelist and critic, author of Brooklyn and The Magician
Emigration leaves a scar, but that scar contains a person's entire story. It's material for a writer
Being an Irish writer means living between past and future. We cannot forget history, but must rewrite it with meaning
Catholicism gave me a language for understanding human suffering. It's a language of metaphor, mystery, and ambivalence
Fifteen years passed between the first Brooklyn novel and its sequel. During that time, Eilis became different, and I found new stories in her life
Losing one's homeland can be loss, but it can also be the beginning of freedom. In exile, one becomes oneself
Writing is solitude and discipline. You must sit for long hours with yourself and listen to the character's voice
If I don't dramatise this, it will never be known. Fiction is how we reveal what reality conceals