SOPHIE GRENHAM talks to author MICHÈLE FORBES about how she transitioned from acting to writing …
Photograph by Anthony Woods
Belfast-born Michèle Forbes is a star of the theatre, television and big screen. She is perhaps best known for her award-winning performance in major film, Omagh, as well as countless high-profile stage and television productions.
In recent years, the versatile actress has directed her creative instincts towards writing fiction. Michèle has won the Bryan MacMahon and the Michael McLaverty awards for her short stories. Her first novel Ghost Moth (2014, Orion) won critical acclaim and a nomination at the Irish Book Awards. Michèle was chosen as one of The Observer’s New Faces of Fiction and for the Waterstones Book Club. The Times described the work as, ‘a beautifully written first novel…a tender, heart-breaking story about choices made and secrets kept too long’.
Her new novel Edith & Oliver is full to the brim with the same captivating prose. We first meet a promising young couple in the bustling Dublin Music Hall scene in 1922. It is a tale of enduring love, despair and the danger that can rise from lost dreams. Fans of Forbes are no doubt delighted – and more will attach themselves to her ever-growing following.
Michèle Forbes lives in Dublin with her family. She is currently writing her third novel.
Edith & Oliver (€16.99) is published by Orion Books and available from all good bookshops.
On home
I’m currently living near Dalkey, within walking distance of the sea and of Killiney Hill. I’ve lived here now for almost twenty years. Killiney Hill is one of my favourite places in my neighbourhood and I try to walk it every morning, with or without the dog. The view from the top is spectacular. On one side you can see Dublin city spread out in front of you, on the other Dublin Bay with the Sugar Loaf Mountain rising in the distance. It’s wonderful in all kinds of weather and each season brings its own rewards, whether it’s the peachy coconut smell from the yellow gorse in spring or the architectural spread of branches against the sky in winter. I’m also within walking distance of the Forty Foot but haven’t yet worked up the nerve to jump into the freezing sea first thing in the morning for a swim – maybe someday. I love having a coffee or a bite to eat at 64 in Sandycove. It’s small but so cosy and the lunch food is great.
On roots
I grew up in Belfast and lived there until I was nineteen. I moved to Dublin to study at Trinity. My first novel Ghost Moth was instrumental in helping me emotionally reconnect with Belfast as when I left it at was the height of The Troubles and I was happy to go. Yet I still missed the familiarity of my hometown. In more innocent days before The Troubles, I remember my mother singing Peggy Lee songs in the kitchen and the marvellous smell of the Scotch broth soup and dumplings she used to make. I remember the bread van and vegetable van stopping at our street and all our neighbours coming out to pick up what they needed. I remember the mobile library calling and the sheer excitement of stepping up into this world of books on wheels. I remember the sound of Stranger on the Shore by Acker Bilk coming through the walls from next door and it lulling me to sleep as a child. I remember the purple irises in our front garden and the smell of freshly cut grass.
On creating
I work at home. My desk looks out onto a huge firethorn hedge. It’s a marathon to cut – and because I’m always looking at it I’m constantly reminded that it needs cutting! But the berries which it produces feed the birds all winter and it’s a wonderful haven for nests. So even though it would reduce my gardening workload by getting rid of it I can’t bear to. One particular late autumn I watched a whole flock of redwings from my desk devour every single berry on one side of the hedge in about half an hour, only to come back the following day to devour all the berries on the other side. On my desk I have a small statue of the Elephant God Ganesh who is widely revered as the patron God of the arts, of new beginnings and of the remover of obstacles – very fitting for a writer. There is a piano in the room which I occasionally play with only a very moderate skill but I love listening to my son playing jazz. When he was younger he also had a drum set in the room and I remember one time being under particular pressure to finish editing a draft of a novel I was writing while he was actually playing the drums. Amazing what a deadline will do! Note to self – get a shed.
On her nightstand
Flannery O’Connor’s Complete Stories is always there on my bedside table and I read and re-read it. Sitting beside that, currently, is Solar Bones by Mike McCormack which I’m loving, and also the script of August: Osage County, which has so many compelling scenes and is un-put-downable. As far as non-fiction is concerned The Secret Life of Dust: From the Cosmos to the Kitchen Counter, the Big Consequences of Little Things by Hannah Holmes is also there. It’s a fascinating read. We discover that restless dust – the dust of deserts and volcanic ash, sea salt, leaf fragments, scales from butterfly wings, shreds of T-shirts, and fireplace soot – begins among exploding stars, then treks through the dinosaur beds of the Gobi Desert, drills into Antarctic glaciers, and ends up under your living-room sofa. Another current bedside book is the Collins Encyclopaedia of Irish Wildlife which is a wonderfully informative book about all of the amazing creatures we share this part of the world with. Each one of these bedside treasures is feeding my soul.
On escapes
I go to the bottom of the garden to escape when I’m at home, even in the coldest of weather. That part of the garden is not overlooked and there’s a rather large rhododendron behind which I can hide and a wooden chair on which I can sit, so it’s perfect. It’s also where I’ve created a small vegetable plot and so all concerns melt away when I become engrossed in weeding or staking or sowing, or doing whatever it is that needs doing – and there’s always work to be done. Afterwards I’m refreshed to tackle things which I’d previously felt overwhelming or difficult. It’s also very gratifying to create dishes from vegetables you have grown yourself – I’ve recently been making radish leaf pesto which is divine and incredibly easy – so I’d highly recommend it. Other than home my favourite place to find refuge in is Italy, and it wouldn’t matter where, though the more off the beaten track the better. I came across a wonderful book on Italian walks and followed a couple of them when I was last there. One that stands out was the walk from Colle la Serra to Nocelle in the Positano region which has magnificent views of the mountains and coast and is often referred to as ‘the path of the Gods’; it took my breath away.
On theatre magic
As a member of the audience you are part creator of a theatrical experience. A play or theatrical spectacle does not exist in isolation but depends upon an audience’s response and will grow and develop as a result. As theatre is live, each night is different because each audience is different. This is what is so exciting about live performance. This is why the stage is often the place where the actor can feel most free. But there is no safety net, if something goes awry the actors must deal with it, must improvise, they can’t just stop and say ‘can we do that again’ as they can in film or in television. The interaction which happens between an audience and a performer is very powerful. Done well there’s nothing to beat a live theatrical performance, where we are taken on a journey, where the emotion is raw and really felt and where the response to that experience is immediate.
On showbiz memories
Giving out to Prince Albert at the Monte Carlo Television Awards in 2010 comes to mind. I had won Best Actress for my performance in Omagh and at the closing ceremony we ended up standing next to one another. Unprompted he leant down towards me – he’s very tall and I’m very small – and apologised to me for not having seen all of the movie Omagh. I found myself giving out to him for being such a lightweight and for not watching the movie the whole way through. Thankfully he took it all in very good humour.
At the Bafta’s the same year Omagh won Best Film, the director and the writer were near the front of the auditorium and stood up to receive the award. I was further back with the producer. Suddenly the producer told me to join the others on stage and practically pushed me out of my seat. I rushed towards the stage not realising there was a cameraman kneeling in the aisle trying to get a candid shot of Michael Caine. I promptly fell over the cameraman and ended up crawling up the steps to the stage.
Oh, the glamour of it all!
On what’s next
In September I head to New York to perform Beckett’s Footfalls and Come and Go with Company SJ. But before that I hope to have a decent amount of words on paper (or on my computer screen). I’m currently working on my third novel. I’m back at my desk looking at the firethorn hedge and wishing a flock of redwings would arrive early to distract me from the task in hand, which is to write one sentence and then follow that sentence with another one. Ideally these should all be good sentences, even very good sentences, and they should join up to create a very good story. I’ll try not to think of escaping into the garden and fooling myself that the broad beans need watering and the tomatoes need talking to, or fantasise about hiking the foothills of the Amalfi coast. In an attempt to reduce any possibility of writer’s block I’ll check in with The Remover of Obstacles – the elephant God Ganesh.
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