A status orange weather warning did little at the weekend to deter attendees of Words By Water, the Kinsale Literary Festival, particularly those who flocked to see author Marian Keyes and actor Tara Flynn’s sold-out event on Saturday night.
It was a full room at the Trident Hotel to hear Keyes and Flynn discuss their work, what it is like working together, and share some of their special interests — including Strictly Come Dancing and extraterrestrial musings — with the audience.
Keyes, a prolific author, has sold over 35 million copies of her novels. Flynn, an actress, activist and writer, has appeared on stage and screen and does voice work on television and radio. The pair co-host an agony aunt podcast for BBC Radio 4 called Now You’re Asking, which is recording its fourth season.
From swapping ghost stories to talking about their first jobs, the friends entertained for over an hour in what felt like a cosy group discussion, with Keyes’ revelation that she was “mostly from Cork”, having moved to Bishopstown at just three months old and living in the city until she was eight, delighting the crowd.
Flynn spoke about her current role on Fair City and said she is enjoying the break from writing her own shows.
“It’s really fun to go in and be acting every day. I was writing for a very long time, generating my own shows. And I love doing that, absolutely love it, but I sort of burnt out,” Flynn said. “They were very personal so there comes a moment where, with that very personal stuff, you can’t share any more, or you want to just do something very, very different for a bit — I certainly did. And so this is lovely.”
After speaking about the creative process and finding the right headspace to work creatively, an audience member asked Keyes if she could share any insight into her next book. The author revealed she has not yet started working on a new novel, instead following a long-held dream and choosing to spend a year studying interior design at university.
“There was something I always wanted to do, and it never felt like the right time to do it. I suddenly realised that I was no longer 22 and that if I wanted to do it, I should do it now,” she said. “When I finished My Favorite Mistake, I thought, if I’m doing it, I better do it now. So I’m doing a course in UCD, and I realised now that I probably will not make a career out of it.
“I’m doing interior design in UCD and I’m enjoying it so much but while I was lying in bed thinking about curtains, there was no time for characters.”
Words by Water also boasted a sold-out event on Friday evening when former State Pathologist Marie Cassidy shared stories and insights from her career and writing with crime writer Catherine Kirwan.
Overall, the readings and other events in the Co Cork town made for a fine weekend, with the ‘Words by Water’ title feeling particularly apt.
