Did you know that John Boyne is obsessed with stationery? And that Ireland has such remarkable literary tradition because of Guinness? No, me neither. But it is all true. It wasn't only me who heard it, there was probably 200 other souls at John's second session of the day. The first one was sold out, of course.
John is one of those authors, who knew they wanted to be a writer since they were little. Many people laughed at him then, but - no one is laughing now! Reading and writing were integral parts of his childhood.
Besides publishing nine novels for adults and five for young readers, John has always been writing short stories and published one collection. His work has been translated to 48 languages and the story of young friendship in holocaust, The boy in the striped pyjamas, was turned into a film. The list of awards and nominations is endless. When he speaks he addresses everyone. He radiates openness and sincerity.
His work captures two groups of voices: voices from very young people and voices from old people (and not many in between). He prefers to use different prepositions when describing his work: he writes ABOUT children and ABOUT adults, and not FOR them. His books classified as books for young readers are stories about children, who find themselves in the adult situation. John doesn't believe in classifying literature by the age of a reader: these are modern, booksellers terms, he says. What is important is that story is told, not how it is labelled.
He considers himself as a happy person. So why so many scenes of dreadful sadness and even worse - sad endings? "My endings might be sad, but I like to think of them as authentic endings." And so are his characters. Their complexity comes to surface in the challenging conflicts and difficult life situations they find themselves in. Like Father Yates, the protagonist in A history of loneliness. Its theme of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests in Ireland occupied most of the session. But complicity of such issues can only be addressed justifiably in art.
His advice to writers? Don't take reviews personally. Don't believe the good ones and don't believe the bad ones. And if you meet a reviewer, who has been brutal with your work, shower them with kindness and praise - it will make them feel really bad!
Find out more
- Listen to the inteview with John on Radio NZ
- Check our catalogue for John's books
- Find out more about the Auckland Writers Festival 2016
- Browse all our Auckland Writers Festival posts
- Read Masha, Moata and Roberta’s Auckland Writers Festival 2016 recommended booklist
- See photos from the festival
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