Established 2003. Now incorporating The Sudbury Hill Harrow and Wherever End Times

Monday, August 29, 2005

The writer's writer

Interview with John McGahern



"But judgment has no place in the writer's trade. I think an ounce of sympathy is worth a ton of judgments."



One of several excellent quotes in the interview, including this:



'No matter what happens to you, no matter how depressing the material, if it becomes depressing to write, or indeed, to read, it's no good. I firmly believe that unless the thing is understood it's useless, and that the understanding of it is a kind of joy. It's liberating.'



There is also a generous excerpt from McGahern's new book, Memoir.

Ossian

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