How to Interview Anne Enright Live
"The snow will melt, the houses will sell"--The Forgotten Waltz
UPDATE (5/2/2012): John Mullan recently hosted Anne Enright at the Guardian Book Club for an adulterous assignation with The Forgotten Waltz, breaking with the GBC podcast's tradition of discussing an author's most famous book (i.e. they cheated on The Gathering, Enright's Booker Prize-winner). Enright is frank, fresh, witty and sharp, and she makes an amusing observation about American blogger behavior.
A diverting 23-minute podcast that goes by faster than a lunchtime quickie.
Online link for the April 2012 Guardian Book Club with Anne Enright
Downloadable iTunes link for the Guardian Book Club with Anne Enright
"A Bit of a Strap"
My overconsumption of podcasts with favorite authors has taught me that some writers, unless challenged or stimulated by an interviewer, will answer questions with set phrases. These phrases can be charming, as when Anne Enright says that some readers describe Gina Moynihan, the heroine of The Forgotten Waltz, as being "no better than she should be, a bit of a strap," but if you listen to more than one interview, you start to crave a little more spontaneity in the mix.
Jian Ghomeshi, the host of CBC's "Q" podcast, interviewed Enright last June, and his earnest and energetic questioning on what she was trying to say about adultery in The Forgotten Waltz yields a 22-minute conversation that is lively and colloquial, with a particularly good stretch on the power of imagination in fiction, and the difference between emotional infidelity and physical infidelity. After Ghomeshi pushes the point, Enright says, "Anything is possible in anyone's head at any time." The interview evolves into an discussion of morality and biological and romantic love that feels more like a human exchange between Ghomeshi and Enright than a rote book promo, and it's delightful to have the opportunity to eavesdrop on it.
Anne Enright Audio Links:
Portable iTunes link to the Q podcast with the Jian Ghomeshi-Anne Enright interview (Enright segment begins at minute 19:30, after a segment on circumcision, natch).
Link to the CBC's "Q" web page with the Anne Enright interview.
My short review of The Forgotten Waltz for Shelf Awareness.
My favorite podcast from Anne Enright's promotional tour for The Gathering, her Booker Prize winner, recorded at DC's Politics and Prose Bookstore in 2008 and podcast by NPR Book Tour. Includes readings from The Gathering and above-average audience questioners, including a former schoolmate.
Litagogo post on Anne Enright reading John Cheever's "The Swimmer" for the New Yorker: Fiction podcast.
Link to Anne Enright reading Raymond Carver's "Fat" for the Guardian's short stories podcast.
Labels: Anne Enright, CBC's Q, Jian Ghomeshi