This interview with Iain Hollingshead was first published in March
2006. To find out even more about him, you can visit
our
Iain Hollingshead page.
Where were you born and raised?
I was born in the picturesque idyll of Basingstoke and spent my
childhood in a small village ten miles away. Moved to London in 2003. Now 25.
Still not entirely raised.
What was it that first got you into writing and when did
you start writing?
My teacher at nursery school initially got me into
writing, as well as going to the loo unaided – I’m not sure which has been the
more useful life skill to date.
Many years later I started doing a lot of journalism at
university and realised this was something I wanted to explore further. Aged
23, I suddenly quit a political job I hated, started writing a novel and begged
and scrabbled my way into journalism.
Which writers have influenced you the most?
Writers: PG Wodehouse, Stephen Fry, Wayne Rooney,
Alexander McCall Smith, Kingsley Amis, Oscar Wilde, Helen Fielding, Toby Young,
John O’Farrell, Alain de Botton, Katie Price’s ghost-writer
Journalists: Ben Macintyre, Matthew Parris, Boris Johnson, AA
Gill, Jeremy Paxman, Jeremy Clarkson, Ian Hislop, Hugo Rifkind, anyone with the
surname Coren
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?
Ah, nature vs. nurture. As my parents used to say with a
sigh and a friendly cuff on the ear with a sharpened sjambok, “We’re pretty
much responsible for both.”
Having said that, I was convinced – just like many younger
siblings – that I must have been adopted as a small child. My entire family are
medics. I barely scraped biology GCSE.
I’m not sure that writers are born, any more so than
accountants or arms traders. My life could have gone in numerous different
directions. It might still do so. There was, however, something of a turning-point
aged 18 when I suddenly started reading voraciously. Part of me was awed and
inspired. Another part thought, This is something I could do as well.
I was also not talented enough to be a professional footballer
(which was my true childhood dream).
There are a lot of courses teaching creative writing
nowadays, but do you think that good writing can be taught?
Tricky one. Obviously, some excellent writers like Ian
McEwan have gone on creative writing courses. But then so have some complete
non-entities.
Can good writers be made better? Yes, of course. But I don’t
think you can teach someone to write to a formula. And you certainly can’t
polish a turd.
More generally, I’m suspicious of the courses that pop up
everywhere now trying to teach things to people which they might be better off
figuring out for themselves. Teachers are generally excellent people, but
teaching people how to write (especially if you’re unpublished yourself) seems
a rather long way down the food chain.
Have you entered writing competitions? If so, have you won
any prizes?
I was runner-up in the Guardian Student Media Awards as
Columnist of the Year. I also came third in my school’s under-11 story-telling
competition. One day I hope to come first at something.
What kind of things do you write?
I write a small weekly column in the Guardian which is
often political in nature. For other publications, I’ve enjoyed writing more
light-hearted, upbeat articles. My novel is also along these lines.
I also write a lot of text messages.
What, for you, is the best piece of prose that you have
ever written?
Obviously, I’m proud of my novel, but I still have a
special fondness for an article I wrote for my student newspaper on the Israeli
Palestinian conflict - www.iainhollingshead.co.uk/journalism/column4.html
It allowed me to do what I enjoy doing most – illustrate a serious subject
with a light touch.
What are you working on now?
My beer belly. And another novel.
What is your writing day like?
Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. It also involves
watching "Neighbours". Sometimes twice.
Where would you like to be in 10 years time?
Married with 2.4 children and a Volvo. Sued for
plagiarism. And maybe knighted.
What’s the most exciting thing about writing for you?
Being read. Exploring the sublime and the ridiculous.
Having something interesting to talk about on dates.
What’s the most frustrating thing about writing for you?
Not being read. Staring at a blank page. Working alone.
Poverty. Misery. Despair. Anguish. Hopelessness. Frustration. BT broadband’s
helpdesk.
What’s the best piece of feedback that you’ve had from your
audience?
One reviewer on a national newspaper tracked me down to
tell me that my novel was “superbly written, very well-observed and strangely
(and unexpectedly) moving”. Knowing that you’ve touched a complete stranger (as
opposed to your friends, who are duty bound to enjoy everything you write) is
hugely satisfying.
It’s also very gratifying when other writers you respect enjoy
your work. Matthew Parris’s endorsement reads: “There is something
wonderful about this book. Hollingshead writes with the
cynicism of many clever young men, but the passion of very few.”
On the other hand, a Guardian reader once wrote me a long
abusive email which ended with the line, “I advise you not to bother any more.”
You can’t please everyone.
Do you write for a particular audience, or is your first
priority to satisfy your own creativity?
Of course, it’s fun to be able to channel your own
creativity. But if that’s all you cared about, you’d never let anyone else read
what you’d written.
My first priority, I suppose, is to entertain – whoever that
audience might be. And, as Samuel Johnson said, “Only a blockhead would write
for anything but money”… which is why I hoping that the Bulgarian rights for my
novel (which are currently being negotiated) will fetch vast sums. After all,
isn’t David Hasselhoff huge in Germany?
Do you have a homepage? If so, what’s the URL?
www.iainhollingshead.co.uk
