Galway writer’s debut book is a big deal!
It goes without saying that, if you want to be a writer, a love of words would be a good place to start. But John Patrick McHugh doesn’t just love words; he cherishes them, nurtures them, paints pictures with them – and rewrites them, because he enjoys that most of all.
Others love his use of words as well; the authors he has helped in his previous work as an editor, the readers enthralled by his acclaimed debut short-story collection – and now one of the world’s most prestigious publishers with whom he has just signed an international two-book deal.
Calling your first book of short stories Pure Gold might have, in some eyes, created a hostage to fortune – fellow writer Kevin Barry jokingly pointed out as much to him – but it comes from the title of one of the collection’s short stories.
And anyway, there is pure gold to be found across all eight of these perfectly crafted, disparate tales of life through teenage eyes; returning emigrants, the killing of a dog . . . even spouse-swapping – all drawn together by their setting on a fictitious west coast island that’s never named but is clearly Achill.
That too is a reflection of JP’s upbringing, because although born in Galway and reared in Barna – apart from a short few years growing up in North Cork – Achill was his mother’s home place, where his grandmother Annie Masterson still lives, and where the McHughs spent so many of their summers.
Read the full interview with author John Patrick McHugh in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie