Week 6- Home is where the Words Are
On Setting, Home and the Curse of the Irish Writer
Irish writers come with a curse.
It seems that no matter how far we go from the Emerald Isle we are destined to return in our words. Joyce routinely told the media how much he hated the city of Dublin, the country's politics of the time, and Ireland itself, but he couldn't help but write about it. From the Dubliners to Ulysses, he recreated the city in such a way that it has become iconic. The world over knows the city he recreated in text, complete with all its darker corners. And he's not alone, O'Casey, Yeats, Shaw, and that's just to name a few of the men. There are plenty of female writers afflicted by the same curse with Lady Gregory taking the time to recover old myths and legends and translate them.
Whatever the case may be for this usual phenomenon, it tracks that I seem to be unable to escape the curse. Since moving to Manchester I have been seemingly incapable of separating my mind from the country of my birth. It seems only appropriate then, that on the week of St. Patricks Day, I should talk a little more about my setting.
When I started writing Ash&Clockwork as a dissertation idea, it was immediately wrapped up in Dublin. Before I had even finished the first plan (a far different novel to my final product), I was already sure that Dublin would be my centerpiece. The tiny streets with cobblestones and old buildings, the many stunning churches and cathedrals, the sprawling graveyards, the mix of history and modernity, it all slotted so neatly into my mind that I haven't ever really questioned it.
Joyce wrote about the Dublin of his time, and it was dark and unfair but alive. My Dublin isn't quite the city I grew up in, but it holds a life of its own. As I edit the first section I am met with my idea of the city. Locations scrawled on an old tourist map that I picked up on a trip home. I could pinpoint each location, recognise each spot. I even took the time to walk Ash's paths, to feel and understand the reality of the distance between them. If god forbid, A&C ever becomes popular, I can actually lead a walking tour to each and every location.
The Dublin I created may not be real, but I have felt it, walked it, and now, as I edit, it only continues to breathe through the page.
If nothing else ever comes of my writing, this world I have created deserves a chance to shine. I have been writing for years, creating location after location, building settings brick by brick. Nothing I have ever put down on paper, shows as much life, as much intricacy, and as much realism as the Dublin of A&C. It is my home away from home and I'm loving being able to immerse myself in it once more.
Perhaps I should look into commissioning a map. It would certainly come in handy. Until next time dear readers...