Latest news with #ElaineFeeney
Irish Times
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Elaine Feeney on her new novel: ‘I was pushing a sort of Chekhov dinner party in the west of Ireland'
Fresh from submitting a batch of student grades, the novelist and poet Elaine Feeney bursts into the Oyster Bar accessorised with a Penguin-branded tote from her 'lovely publishers' and the exuberance of someone who thought she might be late thanks to a train delay but isn't. We're not in the Hardiman Hotel on Eyre Square in Galway for oysters or cocktails, yet it feels like a celebratory occasion: the publicity push for Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way, Feeney's third novel, is officially under way. 'You're my first interview,' she says, though she has only just reached 'the very end' of talking about her Booker Prize-longlisted second novel, How to Build a Boat , and is 'finally comfortable' with her understanding of it. She would like to have 'a nice coherent linear narrative' for me about the kernels that led to Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way – the title of which comes from Sophocles' Elektra – but she's never been one for straightforward hooks. READ MORE 'It would be good if I could just package this for marketing, but actually, no, it was a very sporadic, cacophonous journey, this book.' It started with a couple, Claire and Tom, and at first she thought it might be a love story, but realised it couldn't just be that. 'People come from long deep histories that they bring into their relationship, and it affects it. There's no such thing as a love story that doesn't have these layers of the past.' In the novel, Claire has moved from London back to her childhood home in Athenry to care for her dying father, only for English ex-boyfriend Tom to relocate nearby. As she wrote it, Feeney found herself sidelining 'poor Tom' to examine Claire's relationship with everyone from a ' tradwife ' influencer to her two brothers. 'This is my first Irish family saga,' she says. 'I have four siblings and, because we grew up in the countryside, they were my best friends. They might not think that, but they were. You're so close and it's a small space and I just loved them. And there's very little done about the transition from your family-of-origin to your partner and your own children and how much you can miss your siblings, weirdly.' But 'family saga' risks oversimplifying the novel, which, although mostly set in 2022, also slips back to Claire's childhood and the lives of her ancestors in Athenry during the War of Independence. Feeney had to concentrate hard on the final edits, because despite studying history and teaching it for many years, she's not good with time. 'I can't fathom it at all in my head. I have a very sort of shadowy idea of what time means.' She likes having 'muddy little avenues' in her novels, though what is clear is that Claire is 'at a bit of a loss', being back in a place that should be familiar to her yet somehow isn't. 'I don't know if you have ever experienced that. You're in a space that is intensely familiar and suddenly you start to look at it and you see other things, and it's not the shape you thought it was.' She knows not everyone has to 'constantly walk the same paths' they walked as a child, but she does this, having bought the Athenry house she grew up in. She lives there now with husband Ray Glasheen, a designer, and sons Jack (23) and Finn (17). Did that feed into this novel? 'It feeds into everything. It feeds into absolutely everything,' she says instantly. Claire is 'unsure what world she is meant to inhabit' – a confusion that comes to a deliciously dramatic head when Tom, unaware of the delicate alchemy of mixing friends, panics her by inviting her neighbours to a dinner intended for her university colleagues. 'All the worlds collide at the end. I was pushing a sort of Chekhov dinner party in the west of Ireland,' she says, laughing. 'I come out in a rash thinking about that, seriously.' [ Elaine Feeney: 'I was shocked at what boys were expected to do from a young age' Opens in new window ] The book explores the political dimensions of the domestic space – the power and value of which so often go unrecognised, she says – with Claire becoming obsessed with a Texan trad wife. Feeney researched this in a 'very Gen X' way: by watching TikTok videos through Instagram. 'I got really good recipes for cakes and stuff, and I'm a really bad baker. It may have pleased my husband momentarily. I didn't tell him for a little while, and he thought I was very pleasant for a week or so. He thought I was in really good form. Then I said, 'I'm doing a deep dive on tradwives,' and we laughed so much about it.' She doesn't have a big take on the 'movement', thinking it 'has to be about choice', but worries this is also 'the hackneyed response' to a phenomenon that is both 'another fiction on your screen' and a business that possibly gives the women some agency and economic reward. 'What it taught me is that people do dabble in this. But I think it's absolutely mind-blowing the idea of scrolling past tradwives, lemon tarts, meringues, unpasteurised milk, 'cottagecore'; on to war, on to dismembered bodies, then on to fertility sticks, or whatever. I get a lot of those ads. The brainf**kery – sorry – that it must be causing,' she says. The juxtaposition of banality and brutality, she notes, is also a facet of her novel. We talk about how hard it is to be shocked now, and I mention the sense of powerlessness that can result from online doomscrolls. 'Powerlessness! Powerlessness is something I would feel acutely, and I think a lot of people feel it,' she says. 'I feel powerless, but as a writer I also feel a certain creative weight of responsibility as well.' That responsibility includes interrogating Irishness and the complications of identity. 'Sorry to keep doing the sociological sort of stuff, but I am really interested in the cultural export that is Irish people now.' She fears countries are being branded as if they are material things. 'But who gets to brand them? I'm very proud of my Irish heritage, but I often wonder what that means, when I really interrogate it. It's complex, because of Ireland's treatment of women in particular, and also now with direct provision and the housing crisis, and I'm not just naming things. These are things that I would really consider.' Every human feels pressure to perform, and not just to perform their national identity, she thinks. She wouldn't like to enter a space with her 'whole unbridled self'. Still, she does tend to say what she wants to say most of the time. 'Sometimes I really wish I didn't, that I had some sort of polish.' [ Elaine Feeney: 'I write what I know, so the west of Ireland aesthetic permeates everything' Opens in new window ] Feeney is warm and engaging. Over the course of our two-hour chat, we touch upon alleged cures for shingles, the 1995 divorce referendum, terrible audio-transcription apps, the disappointing third season of The White Lotus, whether a magpie might hang out with a blackbird, both being born in the summer of 1979, our mutual love for Chris O'Donnell in the 1995 adaptation of Maeve Binchy's A Circle of Friends, and the 'fantastic' classroom scenes in Another Round. The reference to this Oscar-winning, teacher-centric Danish film in Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way is one of its 'Easter eggs', or clues to her own life: Feeney taught English and history at St Jarlath's College in Tuam for 20 years. She loved teaching and the 'incredible people' she worked with, she says, but she didn't love the hierarchical structure and religiosity of the diocesan educational system, and it was this that crystallised her decision to leave. After the Tuam mother-and-baby home scandal broke, she felt acutely that she was 'on the wrong side of history', though she also wrestled with concern she might be 'giving up' on the boys she taught. 'It did come down to an ethical question for me in the end.' She is now involved in both the Tuam Oral History Project and writing charity Fighting Words, while lecturing full-time on the University of Galway's undergrad creative writing and postgrad writing degrees. 'They're all such brilliant writers, and I want them all to have publishing deals,' she says of her students. Lately, she has seen 'big interest' in gaming narratives, political poetry and fantasy/romantasy stories that demand world-building of the kind she says she can't do. Why would I risk everything by committing my love to paper? But anyway, I wrote a love poem Feeney, who began her literary career as a poet, always had a strong imagination – 'as a child I was a bit, you know, out there' – though it was her 2014 hospitalisation with life-threatening sepsis that proved the catalyst for her first novel. 'I was like, 'You nearly died, you better write a book, you wanted to write a book, you better do it.' So that – my own mortality – put fire in me.' Last year she published All the Good Things You Deserve, her first poetry collection in seven years. Its powerful, devastating title poem deals with a sexual assault that happened to her while she was in college. 'That was very personal, and I've done very little media about it. I just brought that softly, softly into the world,' she says. 'It took a long time to write the title poem, and to come to terms with putting any sort of narrative arc on the violence that I experienced as a younger woman. Of course, it was cathartic in some ways, but I really feel that art has to be more than a 'non-fiction of Elaine'. I wanted to tell that particular event in a way that I felt I was now controlling that story, finally, and it was no longer in control of me.' The collection ends with a love poem for her husband, though she had always told herself she was too cautious to write love poetry. 'Why would I risk everything by committing my love to paper? But anyway, I wrote a love poem.' When she alludes early in our conversation to a fourth novel in the works, I say I normally wait until the end to venture that question. So, she's already thinking about the next one? 'Of course I'm thinking about it. I wish I could just relax,' she says, but she doesn't sound too unhappy about being unable to, nor does she want to 'do the whole 'oh my god'' about being busy. 'Choices, my mother would say.' Mainly she feels relief that she got Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way down on paper and delight about everything from the joy of being served lemon and honey tea every day while recording its audiobook to the loveliness of being Booker-longlisted in 2023 alongside three other Irish authors. Sebastian Barry sent her a 'very generous' email, she says, when neither of them made the shortlist cut. 'I have nothing but gratitude now. That is genuinely how I feel about it. The journey has been mind-blowing for the last six or seven years. I haven't really stopped and taken stock of it, but once or twice I have, and I've just gone, 'Oh yeah, I'm really lucky.'' Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way is published by Harvill Secker
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Elaine Feeney: ‘Every so often, I read something that changes my understanding of the world or myself'
Elaine Feeney is an acclaimed novelist and poet from the west of Ireland. Her debut novel, As You Were, won the Kate O'Brien Award, the McKitterick Prize, and the Dalkey Festival Emerging Writer Award. Her new novel Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way is published this week by Harvill Secker. The books on your bedside table? I have an ever-growing stack giving me the evils. At the top is The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine, which I'm eagerly anticipating – Erskine's ability to craft empathetic stories about ordinary lives is something I admire. Anna Carey's Our Song is next. I love Carey's YA writing, and am very excited to read it – I have heard from trusted friends that it's brilliant. I'm looking forward to Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje, Caroline West's Wrong Women, David Szalay's Flesh and Sunbirth by An Yu. Roll on summer holidays!
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Irish writers up for CWA Dagger awards
In The Irish Times this Saturday, Elaine Feeney tells Laura Slattery about her latest novel, Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way. Stephen O'Neill reflects on the 50th anniversary of Seamus Heaney's landmark collection, North, in advance of a big conference in Queen's University Belfast. Hazel Gaynor, author of Before Dorothy , her imagining of the backstory of Aunt Em in The Wizard of Oz, reflects on the importance of aunts. And there is a Q&A with Ciara Geraghty about her career and her first book for children. Reviews are Adrienne Murphy on Esotericism in Western Culture: Counter-Normativity and Rejected Knowledge by Wouter J Hanegraaff, The Witch Studies Reader edited by Soma Chaudhuri and Jane Ward, and Shamanism by Manvir Singh; Peter Murphy on Sam Tallent's Running the Light; Adam Wyeth on The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey; Declan Ryan on the best new poetry; Éilís Ní Dhuibhne on Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way by Elaine Feeney; Ruby Eastwood on Sister Europe by Nell Zink; Gladys Ganiel on Tom Inglis's Unbecoming Catholic: Being Religious in Contemporary Ireland; Malachi O'Doherty on Kincora: Britain's Darkest Secret by Chris Moore; Pat Carty on Air by John Boyne; Rabeea Saleem on The Names by Florence Knapp; Pat Nugent on Never Flinch by Stephen King; John Walshe on Deadly Silence: A Sister's Battle to Uncover the Truth Behind the Murder of Clodagh and Her Sons by Alan Hawe by Jacqueline Connolly; Ray Burke on For Valerie by David French; and Diarmuid Hester on Katie Goh's Foreign Fruit. This weekend's Irish Times Eason offer is The Coast Road by Alan Murrin, just €5.99, a €6 saving. Eason offer Tana French has been shortlisted for the prestigious CWA Gold Dagger award for her latest thriller, The Hunter. Also shortlisted are D V Bishop for A Divine Fury ; R J Ellory for The Bell Tower ; Attica Locke for Guide Me Home ; Anna Mazzola for Book of Secrets ; and Bonnie Burke-Patel for I Died at Fallow Hall . READ MORE Stuart Neville has been shortlisted for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger award for Blood Like Mine ; Also shortlisted are: Lou Berney for Dark Ride ; M W Craven for Nobody's Hero ; Garry Disher for Sanctuary ; Abir Mukherjee for Hunted ; and Don Winslow for City in Ruins . Frank Wynne's translation of Pierre Lemaitre's Going to the Dogs is shortlisted for the crime fiction in translation prize along with Hervé Le Corre's Dogs and Wolves, tr. Howard Curtis; Akira Otani's The Night of Baby Yaga, tr. Sam Bett; Satu Rämö's The Clues in the Fjord, tr. Kristian London; Asako Yuzuki's Butter, tr. Polly Barton; and Alia Trabucco Zerán's Clean, tr. Sophie Hughes Andrew Hughes has been shortlisted for the Twisted Dagger award for Emma, Disappeared . Also shortlisted are Amanda Jennings for Beautiful People ; John Marrs for The Stranger In Her House ; CS Robertson for The Trials Of Marjorie Crowe; Tracy Sierra for Nightwatching ; and Catherine Steadman for Look In The Mirror . The winners will be announced at a gala dinner on July 3rd. * The UCD Festival returns on Saturday, June 7th, with over 100 free events taking place across the Belfield campus. Broadcaster Rick O'Shea curates the literary strand with an eclectic mix of established and emerging authors. Belfast writer Jan Carson and poet and novelist Paul Perry will provide some reading inspiration with Shelf Analysis, sharing the books they love. UCD's writer in residence, Annemarie Ní Churreáin, and poet Moya Cannon will explore the Poetry of Folklore. Author Roisín O'Donnell, crime writer Claire Coughlan and soon-to-be debut novelist Sylvia Leatham will discuss new fiction writing. Writer and disability advocate Sinead Burke will be in conversation with journalist and UCD alumna Roe McDermott, exploring the power of representation, and Reeling in the Queers author Páraic Kerrigan will be in conversation with Chandrika Naryanan-Mohan about the fight for LGBTQ rights. Saturday, 7 June, UCD Belfield. Free, with some booking required. See . * Timothy O'Grady will be in conversation with journalist Dorothy Allen at the official London launch of his latest novel, Monaghan, in the Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith, on Thursday, June 12th, at 7.30pm. Entry is £8. A dual launch of Monaghan and Goldengrove by Patrick McCabe takes place at Whelan's, Wexford Street, Dublin, on June 25th at 7pm with readings by the authors and actor Stephen Rea plus songs from Cathy Jordan. Admission is free. * On July 9th, the West Cork History Festival will host a discussion on the history and current context of Irish neutrality at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. For many, neutrality is a fundamental pillar of Irish foreign policy and central to an idea of how Ireland presents itself in the world; yet, in the context of new threats and the retreat by the US, a fundamental reordering is under way in Europe. What does this mean for Ireland's defence, security and co-operation with our neighbours? Prof Eunan O'Halpin will provide an overview of the history of Irish neutrality. Journalist Misha Glenny will offer a contemporary perspective from central and eastern Europe. This will be followed by a panel discussion in which Eunan and Misha will be joined by Catherine Connolly TD, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, and Prof Patrick Keatinge. Tickets and more information are available here 2025 Festival – West Cork History Festival * In Leadership: Nobody Ever Made a Difference by Being Like Everyone Else , Deloitte tax partner and author Tom Maguire engages with prominent Irish leaders, including former President Mary McAleese, to explore the essence of effective leadership. Through candid conversations, the book delves into themes such as integrity, resilience and the balance between professional and personal life. Highlighting the shared value of integrity among diverse leaders, it offers insights applicable from the boardroom to the community. All royalties from the book are being donated to Our Lady's Hospice in Harold's Cross, continuing Maguire's tradition of supporting meaningful causes through his publications. * The Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's University Belfast is marking the 50th anniversary of Seamus Heaney's landmark collection North – which saw the Nobel Prize-winning poet directly address the Troubles for the first time. A three-day conference from June 5th-7th, in partnership with Trinity College Dublin, will bring together Heaney experts from across the world to the beautiful new Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's – celebrating its first anniversary also in June. Paul Muldoon and Prof Edna Longley will gather to hear distinguished authors, academics and poets discuss the significance of North 50 years on. There will also be a family-friendly traditional music session and a screening of the documentary Heaney in Limboland , made for TV in 1970 and featuring Heaney's views on the rapidly deteriorating political situation in Northern Ireland. North is still considered a controversial volume. Upon publication in 1975, the American poet Robert Lowell said it represented 'a new kind of political poetry by the best Irish poet since WB Yeats' and the anthology went on to win awards including the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize and the WH Smith Memorial Prize. Heaney himself admitted the collection took a 'hammering' from other quarters, closer to home, for its representation of violence and gender politics. Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre, Prof Glenn Patterson said: 'Whichever way you come at it, in admiration, in awe or in search of an argument, there is no understanding poetry from these islands in the past half century, without North . 'There are not many books, of any kind, that merit an 'at 50' conference, but North seems only to grow in significance with every year that passes, and with every year that passes to attract new readers, and new critical thinking.' The poet's daughter Catherine Heaney, who is hoping to attend the conference, said on behalf of the Estate of Seamus Heaney: 'We are proud and honoured that the 50th anniversary of North is being marked with this conference, alongside Faber's reissue of the volume in its original jacket. 'The publication of North was such a seminal moment in my father's life and career and it is testament to its staying power that, five decades on, it continues to resonate with readers and inspire scholarly debate.' Lead organiser of the conference and Queen's graduate, Dr Stephen O'Neill from Trinity College Dublin said: 'Written under the strain of what Seamus Heaney called 'a very high pressure', North was a landmark in his writing career. It was and is also a landmark in criticism, as a subject for many of the leading critics of Irish literature then and now. 'Organised to coincide with Faber's anniversary republication of the volume, the conference is a chance to reflect upon the impact of Heaney's fourth collection and reassess its reception.' All events will take place at the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen's, 38-40 University Road, Belfast (unless otherwise stated). The full conference programme is available here . Attendance is free, but registration is essential.
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Author Elaine Feeney: ‘I fell off the stage at the New York Poetry Festival. I also fell on my wedding day — and fell off the altar at my first communion'
Elaine Feeney is a novelist and playwright from Athenry, Co Galway. Her 2023 book How To Build A Boat was longlisted for the Booker Prize. She lives in Galway with her husband and two sons.
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Author Elaine Feeney: ‘I feel off the stage at the New York Poetry Festival. I also fell on my wedding day — and fell off the altar at my first communion'
Elaine Feeney is a novelist and playwright from Athenry, Co Galway. Her 2023 book How To Build A Boat was longlisted for the Booker Prize. She lives in Galway with her husband and two sons.
