How I write: Graham Lindsay
Graham Lindsay is the author of seven poetry books and the one-time editor and publisher of a literary periodical. He has a degree in English, a diploma in teaching, and was the Ursula Bethell Resident in Creative Writing in 2004. He has recently released his first novel, Max Gunn’s Pay Book.i
Which book do you wish you’d written and why?
Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen’s storytelling is compelling – her writing is scintillating.
Which book had such an impact on you that you bought it for your friends?
Victoria by Knut Hamsun and they raved about it too. Hamsun’s gifted, flawed heroes are forever winning the game and losing the prize (or the plot).
What book do you go back to time and again to re-read?
I used to thrash Oppen and Baxter and Han Shan and Rumi and Curnow and Thomas. I still dip into them from time to time to revisit my favourites.
Which writer do you turn to when you have writer’s block?
The best writers are of course the best teachers of writing. I rarely get stuck but when I do I pull out a semi-abandoned project or the one I put on hold when the current one could be put off no longer. Sooner or later a solution will recommend itself, for example it might be that a different point of view is what’s needed, a different narrator.
Which authors would you want in your book club?
My fantasy book club would include the living local authors of memorable work which has moved or impressed me: Bornholdt, Catton, Eggleton, Grace, Hawken, Jacobs, Johnson, O’Sullivan, Wedde.
What book did you read as a child or teen that had a profound effect on you?
We had a relief teacher in the 6th Form who handed out some Dylan Thomas poems for us to read for homework. While I identified with ‘Poem in October’, I couldn’t get my head around the grammar of the first stanza though I stared at it for an hour. When I gave up and moved onto the second stanza the clouds turned to rags of fog and I alighted in the lane above Laugharne where the poet was composing the poem. I was abashed, dumbstruck. The poet ambled after his childhood self and his mother as she was then into the shadows of a dead tree at the lane-side and disappeared.
Have you ever finished a book and gone straight back to the start to read again? Normal People by Sally Rooney: it was like the characters were leaving the party early when I wanted to spend more time with them.
What is more important, a great plot or great characters?
A great plot can make for great characters and vice versa. Rooney’s plot is understated and shadowy and not altogether convincing, but the characters shine.
What’s your writing routine?
I like to start in the morning,but I can fit writing around other jobs if I have to, as long as they’re not too demanding, like teaching which is a creative job in itself. If I leave the house, I take a notebook with me.
What ‘must read’ book have you not read?
Inspired by a fellow writer’s enthusiasm, in the 1980s I started collecting William Faulkner’s books. When I mentioned the difficulty I was having with As I lay dying another fellow writer gave me The Unvanquished. This past winter I dug out my William Faulkner collection and read Sanctuary and The Unvanquished. The last section of The Unvanquished sat me up straight. I got further along with As I lay dying but I still couldn’t finish it.