Irish Identity
Being an Irish writer means living between past and future. We cannot forget history, but must rewrite it with meaning
Colm Tóibín
Irish novelist and critic, author of Brooklyn and The Magician
All moments: Colm Tóibín
- Emigration as Theme — Colm Tóibín
Emigration leaves a scar, but that scar contains a person's entire story. It's material for a writer
- Catholic Imagination — Colm Tóibín
Catholicism gave me a language for understanding human suffering. It's a language of metaphor, mystery, and ambivalence
- Return to Brooklyn — Colm Tóibín
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
- Loss as Liberation — Colm Tóibín
Losing one's homeland can be loss, but it can also be the beginning of freedom. In exile, one becomes oneself
- The Writing Process — Colm Tóibín
Writing is solitude and discipline. You must sit for long hours with yourself and listen to the character's voice
- Dramatization as Honesty — Colm Tóibín
If I don't dramatise this, it will never be known. Fiction is how we reveal what reality conceals
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