Adam Lowe interview

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This interview with Adam Lowe was first published in May 2006. To find out even more about the author, you can visit our Adam Lowe page.

Where were you born and raised?

Leeds, born and bred.

What was it that first got you into writing and when did you start writing?

I've always written, ever since I was little. I remember getting my Mum's letters and writing on the back of the paper. Then I'd take the big A4 brown envelopes and turn those into a book cover by opening them out. I'd draw a front cover and do a blurb on the back. I loved it!
Most of the time I just retold Disney films or fairytales, but what's new? I had some totally odd concoctions based on Aliens, "The Little Mermaid" and unicorns. Mermaids were my favourite things back then, and fairies, appropriately enough. Oh, and I loved evil queens.
Damn, I'm such a stereotype... As Skunk Anansie once sang, "It takes blood and guts to be this cool / But I'm still just a cliche".

Which writers have influenced you the most?

Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea's "The Illuminatus! Trilogy" was an amazing read and gave me so much inspiration. I also thoroughly enjoy anything by Angela Carter. "The Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie was very influential to me, as was "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov, which influenced Rushdie. Toni Morrison's "Beloved" blew my mind when I was younger and I adored Caitlin R. Kiernan, especially "The Five of Cups" and "In the Garden of Poisonous Flowers". But I think there's also traces of Jeff Vandermeer in my style. Any fairytales and myths tend to be bundled into my work, too, along with whatever poetry grabs my soul that particular day. Music is also a big factor in my writing. Whole segments of prose and verse have been influenced by Skunk Anansie, Tracy Chapman and
Garbage.

Where do you stand on the nature v. nurture debate? Were you born a writer, or were there factors in your environment that enabled you to become a writer?

I think it's obviously a nurture answer. I mean, no one's born with perfect language skills and the ability to rattle off dazzling prose. It takes practice, experiment and a hell of a lot of perseverance. Conditions around us can affect how emotional and expressive we are, which is vitally important, and I think it's also worth noting that most great writers have had slightly weird lives in the very least and nightmares at worst.

There are a lot of courses teaching creative writing nowadays, but do you think that good writing can be taught?

I think certain skills and practices can be taught, and you can encourage people to think in new ways and try new things, but the soul of writing is dependent upon your own. If you have no passion, no magnificence, no courage and brilliance in your soul, at best you can just produce fluff. Anyone can write a story these days: films and TV mean that people are saturated with narratives from every angle, so that subconsciously they know the rules without even thinking about it. But the masters don't merely recognise the rules: they understand them, analyse them, smash them to jagged little pieces, dye them, stick them in a tube and turn them into a kaleidoscope of creative imagination.

Have you entered writing competitions? If so, have you won any prizes?

I've entered maybe two proper competitions, but usually the rules on what you can enter ( i.e. length, subject matter, etc) mean that I usually steer away from a lot of them. I hate the idea of butchering my work to fit someone's word limit and I only ever write what I feel strongly about, not what people tell me to write. Some people say I have a problem with authority.

Do you have any short stories or poems published online? (If so, please provide the URLs):

I have loads of my juvenilia at www.sweetestbeyonce.blogspot.com, back from when I was 16-17, but not much more modern stuff yet. I'm planning on putting a longer poem called "Shir ha-Shirim" (Herbrew for "The Song of Songs") online, but I'll let my readers know when that happens. "The Song of Songs", of course, is an alternate name for "The Song of Solomon" from the Bible, of which my poem is an adaptation which will appear in my novel, "In the Garden on Gethsemane".

What kind of things do you write?

All sorts really: poetry, prose, plays. I have a number of short stories under my belt, and I'm currently working on my second novel. My third novel has been planned (there's tonnes of ideas and details for it), but there's only so much a guy can do!

What, for you, is the best piece of prose that you have ever written?

"In the Garden of Gethsemane", without a doubt. My baby and my first novel. I'm not sure which part, but I love that book.

What are you working on now?

My second novel, "Book of Leaves", which is about stories, subjectivity, love, dreams and trust. It's an amazing little story, full of vivid images and big, bright, shiny things!

What is your writing day like?

Well, I usually get up, exercise, go to uni or work, then get home and do something important. However, I tend to squeeze my writing in at every available opportunity, so if I have a spare minute at university, work or home, I'll write something.

Where would you like to be in 10 years time?

On "Have I Got News For You" or "Newsnight Review". Something like that. Living a lush inner-city apartment and earning enough not to have to work monotonous nine to five jobs.

What's the most exciting thing about writing for you?

Creating the ideas, making the statements, giving myself a voice and sculpting it all into something aesthetically pleasing, something
rounded, something poetic, something strong. The feel of making something beautiful and meaningful all at once is highly arousing to me.

What's the most frustrating thing about writing for you?

The pay and the difficulty it takes to get into it, even if you are massively talented. It sometimes seems that the hack writers get all the jobs, because they write what's digestable and easily marketable, or they get contracts working for some formulaic soap opera. Having to work jobs that I don't feel happy doing, that don't make me want to live and breathe and run around rejoicing like writing does - that annoys me.
Why should I live in order to work? Shouldn't work be something that complements your life, not something that overtakes or destroys it?

What's the best piece of feedback that you've had from your audience?

Usually people like my imaginative flair and style. They often find my writing pretty arresting, which I always love. "In the Garden of Gethsemane" has been likened to an acid trip.

Do you write for a particular audience, or is your first priority to satisfy your own creativity?

Definitely for me. If, as Zaphod Beeblebrox said, there's anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot!

Do you have a homepage? If so, what's the URL?

The nearest I have is my blogs at www.sweetestbeyonce.blogspot.com and www.myspace.com/baduizt. I hope people will check them out and give me feedback (hate mail is always good).

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