Colm Tóibín confesses that he writes for the money

Man Booker Prize nominee admits ‘he takes no enjoyment’ from writing

3 March 2009

Colm Tóibín, the Irish novelist shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2004 with his novel The Master and in 1999 with The Blackwater Lightship, has confessed in a recent interview with that he takes 'no enjoyment' out of writing.

In an interview for the Manchester Review with fellow novelist MJ Hyland (shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2006) Toíbín said he hadn't enjoyed writing any of his books, from his debut The South to his two Man Booker-shortlisted novels The Blackwater Lightship, about a young man dying of Aids who returns to his home in Ireland, and The Master, a portrait of Henry James.

When asked what the best thing was about being a writer, Tóibín replied: "The money. I never knew there would be money ... It has nothing to do with enjoyment. I like selling foreign rights, but that feeling would last no longer than 20 minutes."  

To read an extract from the interview please visit our Perspective section.

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