Rosamund Taylor: ‘Thinking back on my school days, I realise how enforced silence creates space for abusive relationships’

Did you always want to be a writer? Tell us about your journey to becoming a published author.

Stories and poems have always been central to my life. Even before I could read or write, I knew I wanted to create books! For a period in my twenties, I stopped writing and tried to have a sensible job, but I quickly became depressed. I started publishing poems in 2012, and had my first collection, In Her Jaws, published in 2022.

What inspired you to start writing?

Often, it’s an image or a specific moment in time. I was on a train in Fife, Scotland, during a snowstorm, and saw a fox running across a white field. It appeared to glow in the dim light, and I immediately tried to capture the scene in words. That became one of my first published poems.

Tell us about your book Filly. Where did the idea come from?

Filly is a novel-in-verse about Orla, who is in her final year of secondary school when she becomes involved with her teacher, Irene Wall. When I was in school, between 2001-2007, it was very frightening to be queer, because everyone around me was so homophobic. Thinking back on those times made me realise how an atmosphere of enforced silence creates space for abusive or risky relationships; Orla and Irene’s lives are both complicated in different ways by the homophobia around them, and as I began to play with those tensions, the story of their affair unfolded.

What do you hope this book instils in the reader?

Mostly, I’d like readers to be caught up by the story and find it an engaging read. As I wrote, the vulnerability of young people, especially those who differ from the norm, was highlighted for me again and again. I hope readers of Filly will appreciate the complexity of young people’s lives and how easily they can be hurt.

What did you learn when writing this book?

I had hoped that things would have improved a lot for queer teenagers and my experiences in school would be ancient history, so I was saddened when I discovered the most recent survey of queer second-level students by BelongTo: in 2022, 1,208 students took part in a survey, and 76% said they felt unsafe in school. We must do better!

Tell us about your writing process?

At the beginning of a project, I often write lots of things on different scraps of paper, as well as making small drawings, which become collages that will be starting points for different elements of the work. I like the early drafts to feel very tactile and to stay away from screens.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Reading is one of my greatest sources of inspiration. I like to read widely, drawing on poetry, graphic novels, memoirs, and nonfiction, as well as novels from all different genres. Seeing what people are thinking and how they are exploring their ideas always makes me excited to write.

What are your top three favourite books of all time, and why?

It’s so hard to choose only three! One book I return to often is The Narrow Road to the Deep North by the Japanese poet Matsuo Bash?; a mixture of haiku, travel writing, and memoir, as Bash? describes a journey by foot across seventeenth-century Japan. I find this account comforting and challenging. Patience and Sarah by Isabel Miller, set in 1810s New England, is a warmly optimistic historical novel about two women who fall in love and make a home together. First published in 1969, it’s a timeless love story. I recently discovered What the Living Do, by Marie Howe, a collection of poems about grief and renewal by the very insightful Howe, who does not waste a single word.

Who are some of your favourite authors, Irish or otherwise?

Jane Clarke, Paula Meehan, Brendan Behan, Junichiro Tanizaki, Shola von Rheinhold, Ursula Le Guin, Mary Oliver, Richard Scott.

What are some upcoming book releases we should have on our radar?

Jessica Traynor’s collection, New Arcana, is an inventive poetry collection about grief, bad boyfriends, and female friendship, via the Tarot and Tim Burton movies. It’s very insightful and original. Annemarie Ní Churreáin, another wonderful poet, will have a new collection out later this year – I’m always excited to read new work by this fantastic poet.

What book made you want to become a writer?

I struggled with learning to read, so I depended a lot on the kindness of family members, as well as my Fisher-Price tape player, to hear stories read aloud. One of my first memories is of my father reading Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson to me. Looking at the illustrations of that book and hearing the story made me want to tell stories of my own.

What’s one book you would add to the school curriculum?

I first read The Color Purple by Alice Walker when I was fourteen, and it made a huge impression on me. It combines simple language with big concepts and emotional truths, and tackles difficult subjects, such as abuse, frankly, without talking down to its audience. It could make a big difference to a lot of young people.

What’s the best book you’ve read so far this year?

I’m always attracted to books that surprise me – reading LOTE by Shola von Rheinhold made me think, ‘You’re allowed to write a book like this?’ It combines invented characters alongside real historical people, a highly unreliable narrator, societal critique, and a manifesto for allowing yourself to seek and celebrate beauty wherever you find it. Von Rheinhold creates an unpredictable narrative that is unlike anything I’ve read before.

What’s some advice you’ve got for other aspiring writers?

Read widely. Otherwise, take your time: you will only ever write one first book. Experiment, play, try new ways of writing, and above all, have fun. Don’t feel pressure to publish or produce anything perfect – instead, learn to explore.

Lastly, what do the acts of reading and writing mean to you?

They create connection – with other people, other places, other ways of being. A good book gives a reader insight into something new. Often, writers are trying to explore a universal truth, and the best writers do that by examining something specific and important to them, which allows their readers to connect with the writer’s way of seeing the world.

Filly by Rosamund Taylor (€18, Banshee Press) is on sale now.