How agreeable are you?<\/p>\n
I tend to be optimistic and pretty positive until I have a reason not to be. And then it\u2019s a thunderstorm, it\u2019s Armageddon. It becomes apocalyptic when I\u2019m unhappy. However, most of the time, I\u2019m easy-going and good natured. My nature changes if I witness other people being cruel to people who don\u2019t deserve it. If I see someone being bullied, I\u2019m going to get involved.<\/p>\n
What is your middle name and what do you think of it?<\/p>\n
My middle name is Eliza, and my mother loved calling me that. When I got older, I began to use Eliza as part of my professional name so that I could hear it in the kind of way she would speak to me. That\u2019s why I use it.<\/p>\n
Where is your favourite place in Ireland?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never been to Ireland, so when I\u2019m there in June for the Dalkey Book Festival, it will be my first time, and Dalkey will be the first place I will get to experience the country. <\/p>\n
Describe yourself in three words.<\/p>\n
Radiant. Complicated. And … Oh, my gosh, I just woke up with no coffee taken yet. Let\u2019s see … Caring. Radiant for me is about light, literal light, and being a photographer and a writer, the quality of light in other people and in myself is something that interests me at all times. Complicated? When I think about my inner life, it\u2019s complicated, with a lot of landscapes, maps and stories in it. And caring is about a generosity, a spirit. I care deeply that other people are not in pain and have a right to a full life, dignity and laughter. I care about what happens to this world, this environment, our stories and how we\u2019re progressing. We\u2019re not doing very well as human beings right now, but I care about who\u2019s coming after us and what they\u2019re going to have to deal with.<\/p>\n
When did you last get angry?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a certain level of anger I feel every time I look at a breaking news headline and see what other debased things are happening in the world. But sometimes it\u2019s local. Recently, walking down a sidewalk in New York, I saw a man kind of yelling at a woman in a way that made me flip out. I can\u2019t walk by and pretend I don\u2019t see that. I don\u2019t care what she did or anything, just don\u2019t do it. Then I had to remember it\u2019s New York City, but at the same time, I have to speak up.<\/p>\n
What have you lost that you would like to have back?<\/p>\n
Oh, wow. My mother.<\/p>\n
What is your strongest childhood memory?<\/p>\n
One of my strongest memories is knowing when I was young that I was a writer. My father had this sky-blue Smith Corona typewriter. You had to plug it in, and after a while, it got quite hot, and I would hold it on my lap like it was a cat or a spaceship. I remember being a child in the joy of listening to the typewriter hammers, and I could see words forming on a piece of paper. Those times of writing out stories and dreams in my head were really beautiful. One of my other strongest memories, a very bright memory, is being in the kitchen helping my mother, cooking for our family of six, and learning how to make bread. <\/p>\n
Where do you come in your family\u2019s birth order, and has this defined you?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m the eldest of four siblings, with two brothers and one sister, all two years apart, and it does affect me. Growing up when you\u2019re the eldest, and a daughter, there\u2019s a set of rules that apply to you that are distinct from, say, my youngest sibling, my sister. My parents were exhausted by the time she came along, but with me, it was a very vigorous, rigid and strict Catholic household. It was different for me growing up, but the eldest daughter in a family of six is special, and I took that gift seriously. <\/p>\n