The Writing Process
Writing is solitude and discipline. You must sit for long hours with yourself and listen to the character's voice
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
- Irish Identity — Colm Tóibín
Being an Irish writer means living between past and future. We cannot forget history, but must rewrite it with meaning
- 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
- Dramatization as Honesty — Colm Tóibín
If I don't dramatise this, it will never be known. Fiction is how we reveal what reality conceals
Related moments
- Documenting History — Questlove
As a documentarian, I feel a responsibility to preserve the history of Black music and culture
- Birth of a Legend — Paul McCartney
The Beatles were about growth. We changed every single day.
- All Music Is Folk Music — Louis Armstrong
All music is folk music. I ain't never heard a horse sing a song.
- The Art of Service — John Legend
As an artist, I see my role as serving humanity and raising my voice for justice
- Alien Artist — David Bowie
I never tried to fit in. I prefer to be myself, even if it's alien.
- Humble Beginnings — Paul McCartney
Nobody believed in us at first. We just believed in ourselves and the music.