Jai Clare interview

This interview with Jai Clare was first published in March 2006. Jai Clare is the author of The Cusp of Something. To find out even more about the author, you must visit our Jai Clare page.

I was wondering if there are any more stories in the "Mascots and Martrys" and "The Roof of God" sequence? Is “The Land is Lighting"related?

I am impressed you put together the "Mascots and Martyrs" etc stories. Yes "Land is Lighting" is part of the series. It was the first one written. There is another - "Shadows in Light" published in print in a magazine called "Voyage" a few years ago. My story in the Wheatland press recent anthology "Nine Muses (Without the Dreaming)" is also part of the series and I have one other on my hard drive called "Bars and Junk Palaces" which I have never been satisfied with to send out.

Do you have a collective title for the linked stories?

I don't have a title for the series aside from the title of the first one in the series (though not the first one written) "Shadows in Light". And the series is still unfinished. Maybe I'll get back to it soon.

Where were you born and raised?

I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa though my parents came back when I was about one so I have no memory and still haven’t been. One of my main ambitions. Wouldn’t go back during Apartheid. Apparently though we landed in Angola in the middle of something exciting were held hostage for 12 hours on the runway, and my father was escorted, with a machine gun in his back, me in his arms, out to the buildings to change my nappies!

Then I was brought up in a small village in Worcestershire with a view of the Malvern Hills from the top of my lane. Father still lives there.

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

Ah this was my art teacher at school. I was doing recreational art to bone up for my portfolio to do art foundation as I was planning to be a fashion designer (very amusing that idea now) when he showed me his scripts and poems. He asked if I wrote and he said everyone should write. I took him at his word at the next emotional moment in my life and I dabbled in ‘poetry’ then writing lyrics for a band I was in (very very bad band) and then stories and so on. Have had poetry published and even a chapbook but I do not dabble in poetry anymore! Leave that to the experts! My art teacher was very influential. Not to say gorgeous (black hair, blue eyes, hippie type driving purple mini -)

Which writers have influenced you the most?

Many over the years but also music influences me. The Cure’s lyrics were an early influence in terms of writing outside the mainstream, using metaphor and emotion and power. But writers initially: Enid Blyton! I can never forget the "Magic Faraway Tree" and her version of the greek myths –extremely important. I had a book beautifully illustrated of poetry for children, loved it (jumblies! The waggle taggle gypsies!) and stories about toadstool rings and other magical things. Then came the incomparable Alan Garner. "The Owl Service" is a masterpiece. Then later came DH Lawrence, Hardy, TS Eliot, Lawrence Durrell, Graham Greene, Virginia Woolf, Angela Carter, Milan Kundera, Deborah Levy, Jeanette Winterson, Anna Kavan, Jayne Ann Phillips, Italo Calvino, John Fowles, Christopher Priest (everyone should read "The Affirmation") I could go on! I am inspired by language and audacity. Pushing boundaries with a voice, cadences and musicality as well as ideas.

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 am not sure. I think nurture did it for me. Though I guess there must be something innate that nurture brings out. But the environment has to be right to discover whatever talent you have. Is that fudging the answer??

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

As I teach creative writing I have to say it can but again you cannot teach what is not there. Really you can only reveal the talent and teach craft. Craft can be learnt, talent cannot

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

Yikes, rarely. I seldom get past the first readers (I shall refrain from my usual description of many first readers of many comps) as I think my work is not immediately accessible. Many would say that was a fault. But I say horses for courses. Thank god we are all different. My novels did shortlist and longlist for the Yeovil novel competition and the Fish Unpublished novel competition last year. And I was a finalist in the Million Writers Online award last year (nominated comp rather than entry) and I won money in Writers Inc comp last year but that is really it. I always value journal publication over comps though of course my bank would disagree…

What kind of things do you write?

Short fiction and novels, some flash/prose poetry. Some reviews here and there. I had a piece about blogging in the current "Mslexia". And oh of course my own blogging pieces (my focus is on publishing and reviews of new books etc) though I don’t write as much full length stuff on the blog as I should due to teaching and PhD commitments. I do wish there was another day in the week or that I didn’t have to sleep!

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

Oh golly. There’s many short stories I am really proud of – but they’re usually harder to sell than the less tricky stuff! My novel "The Storyhouse" I still love and my current novel has moments I am pleased with but like a work in progress I have no critical distance to it.

What are you working on now?

A novel whose title I’d rather not disclose right now. Let’s just say I doubt it will ever be published as it pull no punches and is in a style that could be hard to like. And yet I write it. Am I mad, I hear you say? Very probably. I am gestating a more mainstream book at the moment too though.

What is your writing day like?

I am editing the draft of current novel and I only have a few days a week to do it and even that is limited so I try to do at least a 1000 words a day. I’d love to have less to do to enable me to be more focused. Looking forward to the summer! When I am writing though I am not efficient. I write a paragraph then look something up online or tidy draws or something, then another paragraph. And oh I like to light incense, a candle and have the right music playing. Yeah… don’t ask me. It doesn’t affect whether I write or not – just like the atmosphere!

Where would you like to be in 10 years time?

Alive, book (s) published and happy! Sitting in sunshine, view of the garden, dogs at my feet, expecting a glass of wine at the end of the day.

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

Surprising myself. Finding out things I didn’t know I knew. Putting words together that form ideas, emotions etc, imagining ways of
expressing what I see in my head for other’s enjoyment (hopefully) but surprising myself with words is what I love. Exploration.

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

In writing terms – time. I have never suffered from writer’s block! What I suffer from is enough time to do everything. Also frustration at not doing them as well as I think I can. In publishing terms – the narrowing of the mainstream parameters so what would have been published 10/20 years ago is no longer valid. The censoring of voices, the homogenization of fiction, the lack of nurturing of talent that was the norm 20 years ago, how luck is more important than talent, the endless quest for someone to take a risk!

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

Do I have an audience? It’s very hard to gauge. Sebastian Barker at "The London magazine" after publishing me a few times (I’m in the next issue, all being well, by the way) said my style of writing found favour with him! And he reported how a well-published short story writer was green with envy at one of my pieces published there. I have no idea who this was! But thank you – they made my day! Also I get the odd email from people who enjoy what I write and that is always very pleasing and also when someone interprets and understands and builds on what you have written. I get a lot of support from a great group of people at Zoetrope (you know who you are!)

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

The latter. I have to do what I do for me otherwise what’s the point? I am never going to be rich from writing like Dan Brown! I hope though once written that other people enjoy it too. That’s my dream.

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

Yes I have a litblog (about which I was interviewed once) and a site: www.jaiclare.co m. So I hope people will pop by sometime when some exciting news will be announced about something thrilling happening next year. That’s all I can say for now about that but watch this space!
And thanks for listening.

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