As an acclaimed poet and playwright, Paul McMahon is no stranger to receiving awards for his work.<\/p>\n
His poetry has appeared in leading literary publications in Ireland and abroad, while his most recent play was developed with The Abbey Theatre.<\/p>\n
But the Belfast man, who now lives with his family in Clonakilty, does not shy away from a challenge.<\/p>\n
Setting his sights on writing a novel, he has now achieved recognition for this form, too, as he was recently crowned one of 12 winners of this year\u2019s Irish Writers Centre International Debut Novel Competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was delighted,\u201d says Paul of his win. \u201cGetting the recognition from the judges to start off with is a big thing because it just gives you the feeling that the book is on the right path.\u201d<\/p>\n
To say that Paul\u2019s book, The Playboy Of West Belfast, is \u201con the right path\u201d is to perhaps undersell it.<\/p>\n
The International Debut Novel Competition, organised annually by the Irish Writers Centre, attracts huge numbers of submissions. This year, Paul\u2019s work stood out from a crowd of 804 submissions from 38 countries.<\/p>\n
He and the 11 other winning unpublished novelists will now have the opportunity to pitch their books directly to leading publishers and literary agents over two dedicated \u2018pitch days\u2019 taking place in September. These pitch days are a highlight for the winners, and often signal the beginning of a successful publication journey, as Mags McLoughlin, CEO of the Irish Writers Centre, outlines.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the most rewarding aspects of this competition is seeing writers progress from pitching an unpublished manuscript to celebrating the publication of their debut novel,\u201d says Mags.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis opportunity,\u201d says Paul of the upcoming pitches, \u201cwould be a wonderful way to bring [the book] to the next step… If you can get an agent, and one who\u2019s an editor as well, then that\u2019s just great. That gets the book with an outside eye.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like if you\u2019re building a boat,\u201d he continues of the chance to work with agents and editors. \u201cYou need a person on land to look at the boat and say, \u2018that bit\u2019s off\u2019. You need somebody with a bit of distance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul\u2019s novel has been seven years in the making at his home in West Cork, so he\u2019s keen to take it to the next stage, \u201cso we can really have a look and just test the structure\u201d.<\/p>\n
He describes the novel as \u201ca dark comedy and coming-of-age story\u201d.<\/p>\n
Although known for his poems and plays, Paul has long been interested in the novel form.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got maybe four unfinished novels that I have to get onto after this one,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve always been writing novels… I\u2019m very much at home in that format.\u201d<\/p>\n
Writing The Playboy of West Belfast has been a joyous experience for Paul, as he explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just had this kind of energy to it. As soon as I started, it just exploded. It went really, really fast in a sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough it\u2019s taken seven years, I had the first draft done within a year, and it was such a pleasure to write.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul derives great enjoyment from writing in general, describing it as \u201cthe most magic thing\u201d that he does, but he has a great appreciation for the holistic process of novel-writing in particular.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can just get on and work [with a novel]\u201d, he explains. \u201cSit down and work through it, especially after the first draft is done.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cWith poetry, it\u2019s not the same… You can sit down at a desk but the prose mightn\u2019t come. And with plays, you need actors to bring it all to life. A finished play is only one part of the story, whereas with a novel, it\u2019s the complete world. The whole story\u2019s there.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
While Paul may not have struggled to find his flow when writing the book, the act of putting pen to paper still took discipline – and early alarm calls – for the busy father-of-two.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was getting up at five\u201d, he recounts, \u201cso I could work from five until nine, just to get that time before the day would start.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found those hours enough because you want that real clear energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve met people who work in the evening and the night time, but I think it suits me best in the morning, just before the day drains all the energy out of me!\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul\u2019s novel is set in his original home town \u201cwhere most of the stuff [in the book] actually happened… working in fiction, probably more novels are based on truth than what you might think!\u201d<\/p>\n
But it was written in his new home of Clonakilty. The town was love at first sight for the writer and his wife, Laura.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cIn 2018, we were driving through the town and we were just completely shocked by the actual place. It just struck us as being this really real, authentic place. So we stopped the car and we stayed.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
Eight years and two daughters later, the family are well and truly settled. \u201cAnd we got married here last year,\u201d says Paul. \u201cThe entire novel was written here. It\u2019s just a great place to write.\u201d<\/p>\n
Writing is the day job for Paul – or rather, one of them. When he\u2019s not polishing his prose or poems, he\u2019s a musician and a lyricist for other recording artists.<\/p>\n
The priority currently, however, is his novel and the upcoming pitches.<\/p>\n
What advice would Paul give to any aspiring novelists?<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t give up, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that I\u2019ve picked up over the years,\u201d he elaborates, \u201cis that if you just keep on, go at it, eventually it gets done\u201d.\u201d<\/p>\n