In conversation with... Anne Enright

Irish literature was rocked earlier this month by the news that multi-award winner, Donal Ryan, was to return to his civil service job to enable him to make ends meet. It was a blow to many aspiring writers - if Donal Ryan can’t pay the rent through his writing, what hope is there for anybody else? Ahead of her appearance at the Ennis Book Club Festival, Andrew Hamilton speaks with Ireland’s first Laureate of Fiction, Anne Enright, about Donal Ryan’s latest novel, ‘All We Shall Know’, the finances of writing in Ireland and the surfing trip to Lahinch which provided the foundation for building ‘The Green Road’.
More than any other writer, Donal Ryan can lay claim to recession-time Ireland. His first three book, each of which are directly or tangentially played out against the background of boom and bust, are a window into normal Irish society and a time of gross abnormality.
Laureate of Irish Fiction, Anne Enright, believes that it is Ryan’s attention to the details of normal life which help him bring these stories of modern Ireland into full focus.
“All three books are very socially aware, very socially astute. I think Donal is distinctive for having a really strong idea and accurate sense of how people live their lives - and the differences between the city, the town and the country,” she said.

Click HERE to read this interview in full and other interviews with Kevin Barry, Colm Tóibin, Julian Gough, Donal Ryan, Colin Barrett and Danielle McLaughlin.