Author Lisa Harding: ‘I have never been scared to look at the dark side of life'

Irish Times

27-04-2025

Tell us about your new novel, The Wildelings
The Wildelings is about a group of troubled students in Wilde college in 1990s Dublin who fall under the sway of a charismatic, seductive playwright and auteur-in-the-making, who is a future star of the theatre. He preys on the group's insecurities in order to write about them. A terrible tragedy ensues.
How important was your time at Trinity College Dublin for your acting and writing career?
It was seminal. Although I went in studying European studies, I ended up spending more time in Players than in lectures.
Your book isn't autobiographical but did you spend much time in Trinity while writing to soak up the atmosphere?
I didn't need to. For research I catapulted myself back to my younger self and called on sensory impressions and heightened memories from my rather 'wild' time at Trinity as an undergrad in the early 1990s.
What are the pros and cons of the campus novel? Do you have a favourite?
The campus novel's pros and cons are quite similar: insular, rarefied worlds peopled by (often) privileged young students, where youth and hormones rule, and where crazy shit can legitimately happen. The settings are often gothic and atmospheric. My favourite is Bunny by Mona Awad. I loved how she pushed the surreal sensibility.
READ MORE
You explore both positive and toxic friendships in the novel. Was this intentional or did the characters lead you there?
Complex, contradictory, unlikeable, contrary, wilful characters interest me. They don't make for easy relationships. I like to mine the dark side of humour, the human capacity for cruelty, and to excavate where that desire to hurt and be hurt comes from. I am glad you felt there were some positive friendships in the mix!
Does your acting background help with dialogue and character development?
No doubt. I always write from the inside out. I love the first-person narrator and am interested in the idiosyncratic voice. Dialogue comes naturally.
Tell us about your debut, Harvesting, which won the 2018 Kate O'Brien Award
Harvesting came about because of my involvement with a campaign to stop sex trafficking of minors in Ireland. It was heavily researched and based in fact. My motivation to write that novel came from a place of anger and compassion.
The first draft was 120,000 words, the final one 80,000. Describe the editing process
That pretty much applies to all my books. I like to create messy, unwieldy first drafts. Only later do I give any thought to structure and story. I have no problem cutting and rearranging. In fact, I love that part of the process. It's where the true shape of the thing reveals itself.
Bright Burning Things
(2021) addresses alcoholism over generations and motherhood. Are painful subjects hard to write about?
I have never been scared to look at the dark side of life or to speak out. I am not one for sugar-coating reality, or denial. However, I do feel that my job as a writer is to shine a light on these hard truths and to find some humanity in sometimes unfathomable cruelty.
Your first two novels were optioned for film. What's the latest?
Development is ongoing. I've just been taken on by Sylvie Rabineau at WME in Hollywood for The Wildelings.
Which projects are you working on?
I've started a fourth novel. A darkly funny take on my trawls through the self-help world. Of course, it's a total mess right now.
Have you ever made a literary pilgrimage?
In my early twenties I visited Oscar Wilde's grave at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. I was obsessed with him as a young actress. My new title is an ode to him.
What is the best writing advice you have heard?
'Be yourself: everyone else is already taken.' – Oscar Wilde.
Who do you admire the most?
A friend of mine who is a beacon of light despite huge losses and ill health. Her friendship is precious.
You are supreme ruler for a day. Which law do you pass or abolish?
Severe penalties for those who inflict animal cruelty.
Which current book, film and podcast would you recommend?
Tell Me What I Am
by Una Mannion and
The Bureau
by Eoin McNamee. Podcast:
Wiser Than Me
with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. TV obsession: The White Lotus.
Which public event affected you most?
The Yes campaign and the repeal of the Eighth Amendment. I'll never forget the feeling of comradeship and being part of a group mobilising change.
The most remarkable place you have visited?
The Atlas Mountains in Morocco at night, under the giant desert stars.
Your most treasured possession?
I lost her recently. My little dog.
What is the most beautiful book that you own?
Hmm, I think that would be The Selected Works of Samuel Beckett.
Which writers, living or dead, would you invite to your dream dinner party?
Oscar Wilde, Beckett, Amy Hempel, Tim Winton, George Saunders, Elizabeth Strout.
The best and worst things about where you live?
It's near a lovely park. There's a lot of traffic directly outside.
Who is your favourite fictional character?
Olive Kitteridge
by Elizabeth Strout.
A book to make me laugh?
Less
by Andrew Sean Greer.
A book that might move me to tears?
Nesting
by Roisín O'Donnell.
The Wildelings is published by Bloomsbury.