Beginner’s pluck: Ferdia Lennon's 'Glorious Exploits' is mind-blowingly good
Ferdia Lennon: 'Finish things, it's the best way to overcome fear.' Picture: Conor Horgan
Son of an Irish mother and Libyan father, Ferdia was brought up by his mum in Tallaght. As a child, he adored narrative and would make up stories using his toys.
“I loved cinema too. But as the years went on, I focused more on books, because I enjoy the interiority.”
When he graduated there were no jobs in Ireland.
“I moved to Granada in Spain for teaching work but was mostly unemployed. In my free time, I started writing stories.”
He moved to London, then lived in Paris for a few years, teaching and writing.
“I had some short stories published and was nominated for the Sean O’Faolain Prize. I finished a few novels, but didn’t send them out.”
The idea for his debut came in 2014.
“I left my MA with 10,000 words. Then I became lost in research and set it aside for a few years.
It took seven years.
“There were gaps when I was teaching at university in France and writing other things.” He returned to Norwich two years ago. Shortlisted for many awards, won the Waterstones debut fiction prize.
1987/ Tallaght, Dublin.
Terenure College. University College Dublin, History and Classical Studies; University of East Anglia, MA in Prose Fiction.
Norwich. “Lots of writers live here.”
Wife Emma, “we met in our final year at university”, and son Aaron, two.
Full-time writer. “I’ve received Arts Council Literature Bursary Awards in 2019 and 2021.”
“I love film. I’d be writing film scripts.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky; James Joyce; Hilary Mantel; Eleanor Ferrante; Roberto Bolano; Herman Melville; Shakespeare.
“It’s set in 14th century France. I’m a good way in.”
“Don’t start endless projects. Finish things. It’s the best way to learn and overcome fear.”
www.ferdialennon.com
@ferdialennon.
It’s 412 BC and thousands of Athenian soldiers are held, starving, in a quarry in Syracuse. Enter Lampo and Galon, unemployed potters with a love of Euripides who decide to stage a performance of Medea, using the prisoners. What follows is a funny, moving tale of brotherhood, war and art told in an Irish vernacular.
Mind-blowingly good.
Ferdia Lennon is nominated for the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year in the An Post Irish Book Awards. To vote, see irishbookawards.ie
