Author Interview Claire Keegan Irish rural idyll? ditors can be sniffy about publishing short stories, particularly from authors who havent already established themselves with at least one novel and those fortunate enough to see their collections in book form usually have to contend with a very modest readership. Not so Claire Keegan: the Wicklow-born, Leitrim-based author is signed to literary powerhouse Faber & Faber; her second collection Walk The Blue Fields the follow-up to the Rooney Prize winning Antarctica has sold more than 20,000 copies; and the venerated US novelist Richard Ford recently chose her as the overall winner of the 2009 Davy Byrnes Irish Writing Award for her story Foster. As an avid fan of Ford, the award is particularly gratifying for Keegan. That does make it very special, she maintains. Im a huge fan of Fords not only of his own fiction but of the work he has selected as editor of anthologies like The Granta Book Of The American Short Story. If Fords literary voice is distinctly American, Keegans is resolutely Irish. Her effortlessly involving stories set, for the most part, in unspecified rural townlands tend to deal with characters who struggle with lifes travails but generally manage to wrestle hope from the arms of despair. Foster deals with a neglected young girl from a poor farming family whos placed in the care of a couple who have lost their only child under tragic circumstances; here she experiences care and tenderness, but, as the title suggests, the situation is temporary and she must eventually return home. Keegans meticulous attention to detail, her luminous evocation of the everyday and, above all, incandescent prose are all very much in evidence here. Its little wonder then that the 41-year-old is frequently likened to John McGahern, who also lived in Leitrim and wrote about the same social milieu. But does the comparison become tiresome? No, she says resolutely. I could never be annoyed E by being compared to McGahern but I do believe if a writer has a talent it is very much of that individual and I do think my style is quite different though maybe what I have to say can overlap in some way. There arent too many writers concerned, almost exclusively, with a rural Irish landscape. So the fact people see parallels is understandable. Keegans protagonists tend to be resilient, fiesty and wily. In The Foresters Daughter (from Walk The Blue Fields), for instance, a frustrated housewife teaches her partner a lesson after years of incremental disappointments. Elsewhere, theres an elegiac, regretful quality to stories about characters who often play a major part in their own unhappiness, such as the hidebound farmer in Dark Horses who drove his lover away with his chauvinism. Most people, Keegan says, dont find life easy. I write about the difficulties people go through but a great many of my stories end with my characters coping very well, even if circumstances arent ideal. I dont think my characters are disappointed by life so much as struggling with it. If you asked me to write about people who are generally happy and get upset over trifling setbacks, I would find that excruciating. If her fiction eschews recognisably modern settings and avoids urban life, Keegan is unperturbed by the fact. I have no desire to stay with country life, but I will go wherever the story takes me. I dont make any effort to be a rural writer. And what about McGaherns observation that in order to succeed a writer needs a good, boring life with no excitements? I think, she says that if you want to work well and concentrate, you need long periods of quiet time where absolutely nothing happens. Its the only way to truly excavate whats in your mind. Davy Byrnes Stories (Stinging Fly Press, 10) is out now. www.stingingfly.org If you asked me to write about people who... get upset over trifling setbacks, I would find that excruciating The short story writer tells Daragh Reddin how despite her focus on rural Ireland, shes happy to go wherever the story takes her GIG Alison Moyet Julian Casablancas In Town Tonight The Strokes too-cool-for-school frontman surprised us all this autumn with his debut solo album Phrazes For The Young, which knocks the socks off his bands self-parodying output post-2003s Room On Fire Tonight, The Academy, 57 Middle Abbey St D1, 7.30pm, 25.50 (returns only). Tel: 0818 719 300. www.juliancasablancas.com Christy Moore Teaming up again with old pal and fellow trad veteran Declan Sinnott, Moore knuckles down for a string of gigs showcasing his current album, Listen, which made No.1 in the Irish charts Until Thu, Vicar Street, 58-59 Thomas St D8, 7.30pm, 39.50 to 49.50. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.christymoore.com Nearest The South Pole Multimedia event commemorating a lecture given by Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922) that includes a presentation on the Antarctic by his cousin Jonathan, musical theatre, poetry readings and a rare recording of the explorers voice Tonight, National Concert Hall, Earlsfort Terrace D2, 8.30pm, 10. Tel: (01) 417 0000. www.nch.ie metro Arts & Entertainment life Book Now Josh Ritter He just cant keep away. Not content with performing a three-night stand at Whelans last October, where the merry troubadour celebrated his 33rd birthday on-stage downing a pint of Guinness in one as the Love Cannon String Band and crowd cheered him on, with all the aplomb of a frat party Irelands adopted son is coming back for more with a full ensemble in tow. Meanwhile, his solo support slots for The Swell Seasons European tour in February should keep him busy Apr 27, 2010, Grand Canal Theatre, Grand Canal Square, Docklands D2, 7pm, 36. Tel: 0818 719 377. www.joshritter.com 14 metrolife Monday, December 14, 2009 The hoTTesT TickeTs in Town We have two pairs of tickets to see JOSH RITTER Apr 27, 2010 at the Grand Canal Theatre, 7pm For a chance to win, e-mail your answer to the question below to life@metroireland.ie by noon today with Hot Tickets in the subject line. With your answer please include your name, address and a number where you can be contacted between 1pm and 3pm. Strictly one entry per person; entrants must be age 18 or over. Q. To which folk singer-songwriter is Ritter rumoured to be romantically involved? A Jesca Hoop B Dawn Landes The winners of Fridays tickets to see The Big Gay Musical are: Conleth Teevan & Diana Stuart Some 1980s artists look a shadow of their former selves upon emerging from decades of semi-retirement but Alison Moyet seemed rather well preserved when she dusted off her songbook and hit the road a few years back. Her music has stood up pretty respectably too. Maybe thats because the big-lunged pop she churned out after the end of Yazoo, her Casio-infused collaboration with Vince Clarke, was never especially fashionable to begin with. Or perhaps its a testament to the power of her voice, which dips and weaves between moments of hair- dryer overkill and dulcet subtlety. To be fair, of course, Moyet has never completely vanished off the map shes been dutifully turning out records for years (as well as pursuing a parallel career in musicals). However, it took a Yazoo reunion in 2008 to truly put her name up in lights again. All going well, this comeback tour will prove that she deserves more than to be remembered as Clarkes frothy side-kick. Eamon de Paor Tonight, Olympia Theatre, 72 Dame Street D2, 7pm, 46.20 to 48.20. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.alisonmoyet.com index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html