If you’re in the Dublin area, hit up iconic bookshop Hodges Figgis this coming Wednesday for the launch of Greetings, Hero, the debut collection from short story maestro Aiden O’Reilly. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Short Stories’
Greetings, Hero
Author: Aiden O'ReillyISBN: 9780957142756 | 322 pages
“Aiden O’Reilly’s stories of one-night stands and fraught relationships, of dreamers, drifters and migrant labourers, an academic crank at war with the legacy of the Roman Empire and a man who assembles a woman from a kit suggest complicated truths about who we are now and where we have come from. Greetings, Hero is a poignant, inventive collection by a writer distinguished by a rich and resonant voice.”
Ashley Stokes (The Syllabus of Errors, Unthank Books, 2013)
“A startling debut – wit and artistry, spliced to an imagination which has real ambition for the short story.”
Mike McCormack (Notes from a Coma)
Aiden O’Reilly
Wednesday, July 10th, 2013
Aiden O’Reilly was interested in puzzles from an early age and published papers on a QM dynamical system before abandoning a PhD in mathematics. He has worked variously as a translator, building-site worker, property magazine editor, and IT teacher. He lived in Eastern Europe for a time, but only met his wife after six years there. He is a 6-kyu go player, enjoys reading Karl Jaspers, and lives in Stoneybatter.
His collection of short stories, Greetings, Hero, will be released in 2014.
A Kavanagh Gore
Monday, March 4th, 2013
Nothing Doing
Author: Willie SmithISBN: 9780956665898 | 180 pages
Nothing Doing is underground legend Willie Smith’s shocking, subversive and darkly hilarious ode to misspent childhood, lost innocence and creeping depravity. Written over a period of thirty years, these stories anatomize America’s most vivid perversions and outsider fantasies with unmatched precision and wit.
Bogdan Tiganov Interview
Monday, January 17th, 2011
How many of the stories are based on real events/true stories?
All of them. For example, the story It’s Marlboro is based upon observing the drunken gravediggers at the cemetery where my grandfather is buried.
Why did you add the poems?
Originally, I had two projects going. When it was suggested that I turn them into one I chose the poems that had Romanian subject matter. I like the way the poems and stories complement each other.
Do you prefer writing prose or poetry?
I’m not choosy as long as it’s edgy and vivid.
Who is this book aimed at?
Everyone. But don’t expect a lighthearted Hollywood ride.
There seems to be a political undercurrent to these stories and poems. What can you tell us about that?
Politics is something you don’t talk about but it’s buried in the psyche of every Romanian. Every Romanian is aware of the obscene level of corruption or how many aspects of the system don’t work. I make covert points.
Who are your favourite writers and why? What effect did their work have on you and your writing?
I’ll go with Hemingway. Reading Hemingway had a drastic effect on my writing. I knew immediately that I wanted to be precise and cutting, with both character and landscape.
What does writing mean to you? How has writing informed your own character?
Writing is a job. It can also be much more than that. If you’re lucky. It’s made me the miserable little sod I am.
When did you start writing creatively? How has the process changed over time?
I wrote my first story when I was eleven. My great friend, Don Pavey, edited it in red pen. There was red everywhere but it was very exciting. Now living comes into it and all that other head scratching stuff so it’s no longer as exciting, the hours seem shorter and the mind less fresh.
How do you view other writers?
Competition. Wanted dead or alive. Hopefully dead. I’ve been lucky to come across some decent writers with acceptable personalities and great expression. I’ve also met the other type.
What’s your opinion of writing for a market?
Didn’t understand it at sixteen, still don’t understand it at thirty. What good is a book if you decide for whom and for what it’s for before you’ve even began? I don’t write How Tos or DIY manuals.
What does publishing mean to you?
Hopefully a way to meet like-minded people and work towards having our work read by a wider public. That was my drive behind Honest.
How do you feel publishing is developing? What is your opinion of eBooks?
I first used POD in the year 2000. It was quite new then and nobody was aware of what it could do. Now it’s matured somewhat but it’s still a bit raw. But the fact that people like us can almost share the same space as a company like Penguin can only be a good thing. Electronic books need a few more years before the technology can catch up with the demand and ideas.
