Is this an example by which you lead your own life or is it an alter ego, something you would advise others to try?

Your fictional characters are known for going against the grain and foraging their own paths – take Erik in Epic for example. I returned to writing novels when I got the idea for Epic, by which time I’d learned a lot about the craft of being a writer from journalism and from writing history. I went to a comprehensive school in Chester that was pretty good, but still, the culture of my classmates was hostile to the idea of boys with literary pretension. Moreover, I couldn’t show them to anyone as my schoolmates would have scoffed to learn that I was writing. I first began writing at the age of twelve, in a copy-book, but the stories were rubbish and derivative. It is this family environment that helps explain also the fact that my brother Gavin, has gone on to have a successful playwriting career and – as dramaturge for Fishamble Theatre Company – has assisted in the emergence of artistically successful new Irish playwrights. Moreover, the desire to be a writer was firmly established within me. Singer and other post-war Jewish US authors to whom my father was drawn.

Rieu translation of the Iliad and Thomas Kinsella’s version of the Tain by the age of fourteen I was reading Philip Roth, Joseph Heller, I. But I must have caught on fast, because by the time I was eight I had read the E. My mum tells me that she just wasn’t able to get me started on reading until I was six. And what with my dad having a love of history and correspondingly enormous book collection, I’ve grown up with a fascination for the past. Nearby are a great number of castles, including some spectacular medieval ones across the border in Wales. My childhood was spent in Chester, England, which is a walled city with Roman remains. Here Conor Kostick talks to Elizabeth Rose Murray for writing.ie about the impulse to write, miner’s strikes and his latest book, Edda, which completes the Avatar Chronicles.įrom medieval history and non-fiction to futuristic children’s literature – tell us about your journey… He has achieved international success with Epic and Saga.

In 2009, Conor was the recipient of a Special Merit Award at the Reading Association of Ireland Awards for his book Move, and for his contribution to science-fiction writing in Ireland. He lives in Dublin where he teaches medieval history at Trinity College. National Emerging Writer Programme OverviewĬonor Kostick is the author of several successful books including Epic, Saga, Move, as well as The Book of Curses for younger readers.

Saga conor kostick