Colm Tóibín

Every night, from as early as I can remember, the family knelt in the evening and said the rosary. Each mystery, as they were called, had ten Hail Marys; the first part of each Hail Mary was recited by a single voice, and then the second part - 'Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen'- by the rest of the family in unison. At the end, my mother would recite some extra prayers including the 'Memorare' which began, 'Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who sought thy aid or implored thy intercession was left unaided'... The line between the private and the public, under uneasy pressures, can become blurred. In Ireland, novels and plays still have a strange force. The writing of fiction and the creation of theatrical images can affect life there more powerfully and stealthily than speeches, or even legislation. Imagined worlds can lodge deeply in the private sphere, dislodging much else, especially when the public sphere is fragile. Show less «

I think the job of the writer in the theater is to be very, very quiet. You've made your noise. Your job is to be back at home on case they need you on the phone. Show less «

How strange it must seem to historians, sociologists and philosophers that, after all that has happened in the world, the small matter of love, in all it's minuscule twists and turns, continues to preoccupy novelists more than, say, the breaking of nations or the fate of the earth. Some novelists have tried to rectify this. They have tried to make the art of the novel seem more important somehow by treating, say, terrorism or large political questions with great seriousness. But then other novelists return, like scavengers or renegades or deserters or prophets, to the old dramas of fidelity, treachery and passion among people who are ordinary. How these small, perennial, familiar issues seem larger and more pressing than important public questions is a mystery. Show less «

Compared to investigative journalism, history writing, biography or self-help books, the novel is a strange, humble, hybrid form; it is in its very humility, in its pure uselessness, in its instability, in its connection to the merely human that its grandeur lies. Show less «

[on working with Nina Hoss in Return to Montauk (2017)] I was there when they filmed Nina's entrance. That was an amazing 'Oh, God, oh, wow' moment. She has an extraordinary presence, and we take full advantage of that. Show less «