When you received the news that you had been selected as one of the IWR Alumni Award recipients, did you sing or scream or dance around in your apartment? Tell me how you reacted.
Hi. No, I’m afraid I didn’t sing or scream or dance… I’m too old for that! However, I was absolutely delighted, and it was lovely to receive the phone-call from Eliza Reid with news of my scholarship. I am really excited to be going to Iceland for the first time, and to be participating in the IWR. In particular, I am looking forward to meeting, and exchanging with, other writers during the reception, meals, and writing workshops, and to discovering a little of Iceland on the tour. I think that this is an exceptional opportunity, for which I am extremely grateful, and one which will definitely help me grow as a writer.
Winning this award, like you said, is an absolute delight. And I remember how I screamed in ecstasy when Eliza called me in December 2019. You mentioned the need to grow as a writer, but I’d like to know why you decided this is the right time to stretch the muscle of your career, to seek that intended growth.
Now is the right time for me to seek to grow as a writer because I finally have enough hours in the day to do so, or at least to move in the right direction and hone my skills. I used to work full-time as a lawyer in London, had a long commute, and parental responsibilities, which meant that I had next to no time for writing (although I did manage the occasional creative writing evening course). Today, my situation has changed significantly and I no longer have such constraints. I live a quieter life in Brittany, where I am surrounded by beautiful countryside which both inspires and motivates me, and I only work part-time from home, enabling me to focus on my writing much more, even if still not as much as I would like. Therefore, I am embracing this opportunity to really ‘find my voice’ and engage with my long-neglected creativity.
Most times we hear that writers, whether their work is fiction or nonfiction, write out of their own experiences. While I think this is largely untrue for fiction, I would like to ask where you draw your experiences from. What really informs your work?
When writing creative non-fiction, I frequently draw on my own past experiences, my family, friends, acquaintances, and places I know, but I now rely increasingly on my current observations of people, my environment, and the wider world around me. At the moment, I am doing a creative non-fiction course, focusing on landscape and place, with the National Centre for Writing in the UK. The course’s exercises and assignments require students to use their own experiences and to describe familiar objects or photographs, but importantly, also encourage careful attention to dialogue and detailed observation of the new and unfamiliar, whether it be animals, nature, buildings or objects. I think that these skills are vital for good writing and I am constantly striving to improve them. In my more limited fictional work, drawing on my life experience and observations is equally important but additionally, using my imagination and really getting into the minds of my characters is essential.
The fact that people tell stories that transcend their own experiences, especially in fiction, is utterly rewarding. Because there’s something constricting about relying solely on your experiences to write fiction. What are some of your favorite books and what have you learnt from them?
One of the books I read recently that has stayed with me is ‘Never Let Me Go’ by Kazuo Ishiguro. I also watched the film. I think it marked me because whilst the situation presented is highly questionable ethically, it is not so far from the realms of the possible which makes it very disturbing, yet at the same time I could really relate to the feelings and emotions of the protagonists. I also have old favorites, such as ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Emily Bronte, which I remember not being able to put down, and Milan Kundera’s novels. I read a lot in French too and have some favorite authors, most recently Valérie Perrin. I like her chosen subject material and the way she constructs her novels. I’m currently re-reading several short stories in Russian too, such as Gogol’s ‘The Nose’, and I also love poetry and recall poems many years after I have studied or read them, such as ‘Blackberry Picking’ by Seamus Heaney. For me, the mood a story or poem creates is important, as well as seeing things from different perspectives.
What are your expectations for the Iceland Writers Retreat? Tell me the things you’re looking forward to. And the faculty members you will be attending their workshops?
I hope that the Iceland Writers Retreat will indeed be as inclusive and welcoming as it sets out to be but I simply hope just to enjoy, learn from, and make the best of it. Let’s face it, what a wonderful opportunity! I’m attending workshops by Nicole Krauss, Jeannette Walls, Hari Kunzru, Manchàn Magan and Katie Kitamura, with a focus on space and place, memoir, the novel and travel, which reflects my current interests. I’m currently acquainting myself with their writing and the required reading, and I am really looking forward to attending, and taking part in, their workshops. In addition, I can’t wait to visit Iceland as I’ve never been there before and so the tour will undoubtedly be a highlight. As previously mentioned, I’m keen to meet other participants, the faculty and the organizers and share experiences.
Let’s talk about anxiety around age and writing. Some people think that starting out as a writer at a certain age—let’s say 40—limits your opportunities and affects your acceptance in the publishing and literary world. Although writers like the incomparable Toni Morrison had a successful career, what are your thoughts on the opportunities and hurdles you’ve faced since you started writing “to find your voice” lately?
I have absolutely no anxiety around age and writing and so far, I have faced no hurdles, rather the opposite. Admittedly, I am in the early stages but in my view, you are as old as you feel or as your mind is set and in my case, I have a lot of life left in me despite being over fifty! I think that if you have talent and a good manuscript, together with some perseverance and self-belief, people will recognize that and act upon it. You do not need to advertise your age and can still enter writing competitions, apply for grants, etc. And if any barriers are put in place, then it’s due to the small-mindedness of those setting them, not your own, and it’s up to you (and society) to break them down. However, I recognize that others may not have been so fortunate and may have experienced age-related difficulties, either physical ones, hindering their output and productivity, or from negative industry attitudes to their age. We should all work together to overcome these. I have to admit that up until now, I was not familiar with Toni Morrison (more books to read), but from what I have recently found out, she seems truly motivational and inspirational.
Iceland Writers Retreat bridges that age gap by bringing writers who are in various stages of their career to learn and talk about writing. This, for me, is revolutionary in its insistence on inclusivity. If you were to tell someone about the Iceland Writers Retreat, what would you say?
It is hard for me to comment on this as I have not yet participated in the Iceland Writers Retreat but, from the information received so far, and the online Q&A session which I attended, I have been impressed by the emphasis on both inclusivity and diversity. On this basis and the quality of the members of the faculty, I would encourage anyone to attend.
Many thanks for having this conversation with me. Have a wonderful retreat experience in Reykjavik.
Georgina Dark is an emerging writer, established language teacher and translator, and a non-practicing solicitor. Since 2020, she has been developing her writing skills through online courses in creative nonfiction, memoir, and fiction with the UK’s National Centre for Writing and Arvon, as well as in translation with the British Centre for Literary Translation. Currently, she lives in France with her partner and is self-employed.
This interview was conducted by Okechi Okeke, a 2020 recipient of Iceland Writers Retreat Alumni Award.
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