You create a world away from home and make new rooms for yourself. But when you arrive back home in your old rooms, the world you've made for yourself ceases to be real. Everything seems to crumble. Anyone who's been sent away to boarding school can understand that. Colm Toibin arrivebackboard share on social
The best thing about New York is working late into the night. At 1 in the morning on a Saturday, to be still working, there's an immense satisfaction in being enclosed by it. Colm Toibin encloseimmenselate Change image and share on social
You have to keep writing. It's almost like practice, almost like tennis, that actually after a few days of not writing, first of all it makes you slightly depressed and uneasy, but it also affects the style when you start up again. You need to get the show on the road. Colm Toibin affectdaydepress share on social
John McGovern taught me that it's OK to write repeatedly about the same things. Colm Toibin johnmcgovernrepeatedly Change image and share on social
I am violently untidy. My desk is overcrowded. I write my first drafts in longhand in a long notebook using a plastic throwaway fountain pen. Then I work on a word processor using a different desk and a different room. Colm Toibin deskdraftfountain share on social
When a book comes from the publisher and you see it for the first time... Of course it's not remotely like seeing a baby for the first time, but I can remember with each book what room I was in when I opened it. That would be excitement, though, I think. Not pride. Colm Toibin babybookexcitement share on social
I first went to Barcelona in 1975 after university, and I stayed for three years. I learnt Catalan because that's what everyone speaks in the mountains. They speak English to foreigners, but what people say to each other is much more important than what they say to you. Colm Toibin barcelonacatalanenglish share on social
Writing tends to be very deliberate. A novelist could probably run a military campaign with some success. They could certainly run a country. Colm Toibin campaigncountrydeliberate Change image and share on social
I live in words. I like looking at things, but I don't have a strong visual imagination. Colm Toibin imaginationlivestrong Change image and share on social
I think you can get a sort of intensity and an edginess offering nine stories in a book. Competing versions of things. Colm Toibin bookcompeteedginess Change image and share on social