Nicola Barker: Messing with our minds in Ashford
Nicola Barker on her haunting novel Darkmans
Congratulations on being shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Was it any less exciting this year (having been longlisted in 2004) and what difference does it make to be on the six title shortlist?
Thanks very much! Was it any less exciting this year? Absolutely not. It’s always wonderful to be longlisted/shortlisted for prizes (no matter how big or small they may be). I never make any bones about the fact that I’m what you might call a ‘left-field’ kind of author. This inevitably means that my work is more unconventional and difficult to pigeonhole than much of what’s published in the popular market. Obviously I’m entirely happy with that. It’s my choice. I’ve never felt the need to be loved by everyone. I’m just happy if I enjoy what I do and a few people read it and respond to it positively. When your books are experimental in nature (or challenging in some way) then you inevitably have to fight a little bit harder to get people’s attention. So prizes are a great way to make that happen. My publishers are always delighted and the benighted soul who’s been landed with the ordeal of publicising my work is immensely relieved. I was very shocked to be longlisted for Clear in 2004. That was such a naughty novel and I thought the judges were brave to even longlist it. Darkmans is obviously a much bigger and more dense work. I love it very much, but I have no illusions about the kind of book it is.
In Darkmans the book is haunted by a fifteenth century court jester. Why did you choose this jester in particular and had you come across the historical figure before starting the novel – or did you go in search of him?
I was introduced to John Scogin (or Scoggin) by my partner, Ben Thompson, who came across him while researching a book about comedy. As soon as I found out about him I was completely bewitched. He was such an important historical figure at the time - one of the first books ever printed in the English language was a book of his jokes. He was enormously famous and influential in the courts of both Edward IV and Richard III. He was one of the first educated jesters. Before Scogin jesters were generally just fools. Scogin merely pretended to be one. He struck me as being a very modern creature. He was cruel, ruthless and a terrifying opportunist. Sometimes I felt almost anxious about reaching out, blindly, into the darkness and drawing him into my narrative - he scares me - but I felt that he generated a special kind of energy in the text that only a real person could.
You took a break from writing Darkmans to write ‘Clear’, a novel inspired by the David Blaine exhibit. Did you find your writing approach to Darkmans had changed having taken this time out?
I wrote Clear in three months. I just felt it was something I had to do. I really wanted to have my say on the whole Blaine issue. I thought it was important because it spoke volumes about where we were as a nation, culturally, politically and emotionally. People who are familiar with my work will be aware of the fact that I write two kinds of fiction. One kind is very stylistically ornate but structurally simple - often written in the first person, very topical, full of jokes. The other kind is much longer and more densely plotted. The shorter books are much easier and more fun for me to write. That said, I was very happy to return to Darkmans after Clear. I was excited by it. I’m sure the book did change in some ways because of the break, but books can change for a million different reasons, in exactly the same way that people do. You just have to try and not be too precious about it. Don’t over-think it. Try and enjoy the process.
Darkmans took four years to write. How does it feel to finish such a huge project – does it take some time to readjust to the world outside?
Darkmans was due to be delivered two years before I completed it. I was under a fair amount of pressure to get it done. I suffered a protracted period of ill health in the middle of the book and then discovered that I had a hereditary hearing disorder and was going deaf (which was a rather isolating feeling at the time), so it was quite a strain to keep myself focussed. The last two years are just a blur to me now. I basically stopped doing everything but concentrating on the book. I disappeared. I made a huge number of excuses to friends and family. I never took a day off for fear of losing the thread of the narrative. It was quite a marathon. By the time the book was finished I was completely exhausted. I just lay on the sofa for months watching Big Brother and eating crisps. And I took some quiet satisfaction from the fact that I had released a work of art into the world which was utterly singular and was going to mess with other people’s heads in exactly the same way that it had messed with mine.
Ashford makes the perfect setting for Darkmans. Why was it chosen over other towns?
I love the idea that there was a shortlist of towns and Ashford somehow came out on top. I’m afraid the whole process was much more casual and random than that. I generally find that these decisions just make themselves. Ashford simply volunteered itself, without any particular fuss or fanfare, and then quickly became this huge and vital extra character in the novel.
Have the film rights to ‘Darkmans’ been sold? Do you think it would work as a film?
Nope. They haven’t been sold. I’m fairly controlling and possessive about my work and don’t really enjoy handing it over to other people to mess around with. Generally I say no to adaptation proposals, and in the case of Darkmans, I do think it’s best experienced on the page. It’s a very complicated, very internal book which celebrates the history of language. Words are important to the book - how they read and feel and look. It would be very difficult to make Darkmans into a decent film. I’m actually very proud of its unashamed bookiness… That said, I do have a wonderful idea for a film based on one of the relationships in John Scogin’s life and would be more than happy to sell it if someone felt like throwing a small bundle of cash my way.
What is your Booker of Bookers?
Midnight’s Children. No question! I read it while I was taking my A’Levels. Even now I can just close my eyes, at random, and smell the amazing aromas and feel the silky textures of that wonderful novel.
