Home / Quotes / Quote by Nick Laird

Quote by Nick Laird

“I think all writing is an attempt to complicate and subvert the dominant narrative. Writing personalizes statistics. It puts a face and a name on a number. I suppose in that sense it's always political.”

Quote by Nick Laird

Author

Nick Laird

Nick Laird, born in 1975, is an accomplished Irish novelist known for his distinctive narrative style and profound portrayal of rural Irish life. more

“I think all writing is about writing. All writing is a way of going out and exploring the world, of examining the way we live, and therefore any words you put down on the page about life will, at some level, also be words about words. It's still amazing, though, how many poems can be read as being analogous to the act of writing a poem. "Go to hell, go into detail, go for the throat" is certainly about writing, but it's also hopefully about a way of living.”

Thinking World Writing Hell Hopefully Exploring

Author:Nick Laird

“Publishing a book is a great thing, and I'm grateful, but it's also a horrible, exposing thing. Once you've published a book, you never write quite as freely again. You're aware, from that point onward, of the kinds of things critics might say about it. You're aware of the kinds of things your publishers might like and dislike about it. You're half-aware of marketing strategies - of all the stuff around the book. Whereas with your very first piece of fiction, if you're lucky, those things barely occur to you at all.”

Writing Kind Book Lucky Grateful Strategy Critics Marketing Horrible Great Things Dislike Publishing

Author:Nick Laird

“I think New York is working its way into my poems. It takes a while for a place to filter its way onto the page, but I've been reading more and more American poetry and I certainly feel it as quite a freeing force. Coming from the formally ordered tradition of poetry in Ireland, I find the expansiveness of American literature freeing in some sense.”

Thinking Reading Literature Tradition Ireland American Literature

Author:Nick Laird

“New York allows you to go deeper into the person you want to be. You're able to explore whatever your specific interests might be. You can eat good Japanese food if you want to eat good Japanese food. You can go and see your favorite author reading, and you can still listen to Radio Ulster on the internet as you have your breakfast. I love that.”

Reading Interest Internet Your Favorite

Author:Nick Laird