WRITER PROFILE

Theo Dorgan interviews the writer, journalist, and playwright Joe O'Connor, best known for his novels 'Cowboys And Indians', which was short listed for the Whitbread Prize, 'Desperadoes' and 'The Salesman'.

O'Connor is credited as one of the younger writers from Ireland who began exploring the lives of his contemporaries in a new and assured way and in doing so gave a voice to the children of the so-called Irish Diaspora.

His writing represents this new generation and his musings on the changing face of Ireland hit a chord with his readers who saw themselves reflected for the first time in print.

Theo explores O'Connor's emergence as the chronicler of the people who became known as the "Ryan Air" generation who fled Ireland in the seventies and early eighties. As Joe talks about the genesis of his first novel, he says, "Cowboys and Indians was the book I wanted to read, it was about people who emigrated but who were having a good time".

Joe discusses his methods of writing and how he starts his books and tells Theo "I start with a central image, like in my book 'Desperadoes' where a couple go to Nicaragua to take possession of their dead son only to find they have the wrong body".

He goes on to say "I would be someone who thinks like an engineer, I try and solve the problem before I sit down and write anything, every novel has its own geometry and shape". He takes Theo by surprise when he announces that he writes the last chapter first, " I can't really just start, I need to know where I'm going".


Biographical Details

Joseph O'Connor was born in 1963.

His first novel, Cowboys and Indians was published by Sinclair~Stevenston in 1991, and was shortlisted for The Whitbread Prize.

This was followed by a volume of short stories, True Believers (Sinclair~Stevenson 1991), and three novels: Desperadoes (Flamingo, 1993); The Salesman (London, Secker & Warburg,1998); and Inishowen (Secker & Warburg, 2000).

In 1994, he published a collection of comic essays, The Secret World Of The Irish Male (Dublin, New Island Books), which became a best seller in Ireland.

His other non-fiction includes Even the Olives are Bleeding: The Life and Times of Charles Donnelly (Dublin, New Island Books, 1993); The Irish Male at Home and Abroad (Dublin, New Island Books, 1996); and Sweet Liberty: Travels in Irish America (London, Picador 1996). He has written two stage plays, Red Roses and Petrol (Dublin, Project Arts Centre, and nationwide tour, followed by Tricycle Theatre London, 1995 - published London, Metheun Drama, 1995); The Weeping of Angels (Dublin, Gate Theatre, 1997); and True Believers (Dublin, Fishamble Theatre Company, Andrews Lane Theatre).

His screenplays include A Stone of the Heart; The Long Way Home; and Ailsa. Among his awards are The Sunday Tribune/Hennessy First Fiction and New Irish Writer of the Year Awards (1989), the Macauley Fellowship (1994), the Miramax Screenwriting Award (1995) and the In Dublin Magazine Award for Best New Irish Play (1995).

He lives in Dublin.


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Running Time: 30mins
Year Made: 2000
Price: €20 - PAL (European), €30 - NTSC (US) plus P&P