This interview with Christine Aziz
was first published in February 2006. To find out even more about the author,
you must visit our Christine
Aziz page.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in Yorkshire. My father was a soldier and we were what you could call, military gypsies. We never stayed in one place for very long.
What was it that first got you into writing and when did you start
writing?
Loneliness and a sense of not belonging anywhere. As a child I loved the shapes of letters and the sounds they made and the writing of them with my Osmeroid ink pen. I loved reading, and it was my escape. Writing and imagining stories took me further down that road. I wrote a lot of stories involving little girls running away to the circus and to sea.
Which writers have influenced you the most?
Colette, Annie Proulx, Isabel Allende, Graham Greene, Scott
Fitzgerald, Naguib Mahfouz, Garcia Marquez, Chinua Achebe, Christine de Pisa,
William Shakespeare, W.B Yeats, Flann O'Brien, Truman Capote, Jack Kerouac,
Margaret Attwood, Kafka
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 have always had a very strong imagination, and writing has been
my way of giving it form. Often I write just in my head. It was a way of
retreating from the world that was going on around me. I have written ever
since I can remember - and can't imagine ever not doing it. It is as much part
of me as my limbs or hair colour. I see it as an innate gift which I
acquired either through karma or genes.
There are a lot of courses teaching creative
writing nowadays, but do you think that good writing can be taught?
I think writing skills can be developed and honed but it's
the voice which is the main force – creativity is all about your inner
life, imagination and how you see the world around you. There are many
ways to express this; some write, while others paint, sculpt, compose,
build dry walls, embroider, garden, sing, cook, act, make movies etc....
Have you entered writing competitions? If so,
have you won any prizes?
I entered some poetry competitions a long
time ago, but never won. I won the Richard and Judy novel writing competition
last year.
What kind of things do you write?
Poetry, novels, short stories, plays, and what I call 'dribblings'.
What, for you, is the best piece of prose that you have ever
written?
I don’t have a 'best' anything.
What are you working on now?
My second novel and a stage play on Mary Shelley.
What is your writing day like?
Random, unstructured - tendency to binge write.
Where would you like to be in 10 years time?
Still writing.
What’s the most exciting thing about writing for you?
The adventure - not knowing where it's leading, the play with
words, bringing my imaginings to the light, the 'composting,' listening to the
characters, leaving this world, just writing.
What’s the most frustrating thing about writing for you?
Just writing, being vulnerable, not enough time, the loneliness
and isolation, the not being left alone, the media crap, not having enough time
for the people I love.
What’s the best piece of feedback that you’ve
had from your audience?
One woman said my book had made her think
very differently about the world, and about its future. Another said my writing
was elegant. I rather liked that! Another said he now recycles his rubbish
after reading my book “The Olive Readers”.
Do you write for a particular audience, or is your first
priority to satisfy your own creativity?
I write to satisfy my own creativity and writing urges.
