MJ HYLAND

MJ Hyland was born in London in 1968 and spent her early childhood in Dublin. She studied English and Law at the University of Melbourne, Australia, and now lives in Manchester. Her first novel, How The Light Gets In (2004), was shortlisted for the 2004 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region, Best First Book), and was joint winner of the Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist Award. Carry Me Down (2006) was winner of both the Encore Award and the Hawthornden Prize in 2007. It was also shortlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize for Fiction and the 2007 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Eurasia Region Best Book). Her new novel is called This is How.

This interview took place in July 2009, with questions from EnCompass readers.

JJ: Hi. What's the new book about?

MJH: It's about an unpremeditated, unprovoked murder and the ‘perfect future’ fantasist who does the killing.

Keren: How long did it take to write, and how many drafts did you go through?

MJH: It took 3 years and no fewer than 20 drafts. Three complete re-writes. Not a single sentence from the first draft survived.

Markus: I wonder, do you think you have turned out to be the kind of writer you thought you would?

MJH: More or less, but I still day-dream about being much better; writing as well as Kafka.

Cecile: You seem fascinated by life as viewed by young people on the cusp of adolescence / adulthood. Why is that?

MJH: Best ask my psychiatrist.

David Rhodes: Do you tend to start with a character, and get the voice right first, or is it a situation or an idea that sparks off a story?

MJH: In short, I start with an idea for a story and then find the right character to tell that story. The character is what gives the book its centre of gravity, the story its traction.

Emanuel Longo: I enjoyed Carry Me Down very much, although I still felt unsure about John Egan at the end. How did you come up with this strange, complex character?

MJH: Three years of painstaking work and lots of hard thinking. 

Damaz: You seem to have lived in many different places. How do you feel this has influenced your writing?

MJH: I've no idea. That's like asking why I am who I am. A life of living and the cumulative effect of experience. Impossible to answer.

KateR: I heard about your interview with Colm Toibin, where he admitted he didn't find writing a particularly enjoyable process. How do you feel about it?

MJH: I'm addicted and there's nothing else I'd rather do. I love the freedom and the chaos and sleeping-in and the staying up till 2 am and the joyous days when the words work well. The highs are high, and the lows are very low. I feel shitty and bad tempered when I don't write and shitty and bad tempered when I write and the words don't sing. I'm often in a shitty mood, but I'm rarely bored.

Anna-Maija: Are you interested in trying other forms than the novel?

MJH: Perhaps a play or a screenplay, but I want to write a few more novels first. I have strong ideas for the next three and have started number four.

Susan Tranter: Many thanks for taking part. Good luck with This is How.

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