Alison Moore: shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction with her debut novel, The Lighthouse
The 2012 winner of the UK’s biggest writing accolade – the Man Booker Prize for Fiction – is about to be announced and I have had the privilege to interview one of the six shortlisted authors, Alison Moore.
Alison’s acclaimed book, The Lighthouse, will go up against the work of renowned writers such as Will Self and the 2009 winner of the award, Hilary Mantel, when the judges consider the contenders. The winner will be crowned at a dinner in London on October 16.
The Lighthouse tells the story of a middle-aged man visiting Germany for the second time and the devastating repercussions threatened by something he neglected to do when he first went to the country as a child. The book is published by Salt – one of three indie publishers for the six shortlisted titles.
It was clear from talking to Alison how shocked and surprised she is at being shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize as a debut novelist. She also feels flattered to be mentioned alongside the stellar names on the list.
Speaking to Alison was an enlightening experience for a newly-published author like me and I thought it might be worthwhile sharing her thoughts on writing and how she goes about putting together something which has been so highly rated by the literary profession:
When did you first start writing and what motivated you to start writing?
I’ve always enjoyed writing stories. When I was eight, something I wrote at school was shortlisted in a local competition and published in an anthology. That was encouraging and other small successes in my teens kept me going too.
You have won awards for your short stories – has writing these helped you in the writing of your first novel and, if so, in what way?
I think that the most valuable thing I’ve learnt over the years is not so much to do with the creative writing itself, it’s the importance of rereading and editing your work, making sure that the words are doing exactly what you want them to do and really fulfilling their potential.
The longer short stories have also been good practice for novel writing in the sense that there’s a similar working together of strands and themes towards an end point.
Do you recommend outlining the plot of a book before you start writing and do you always decide how a story will finish from the outset?
I think you can only do it the way it works for you. Personally, with The Lighthouse, I saw clearly where it started and I knew pretty much where and how it would end, but I very much liked having to journey from one end to the other without really knowing what might happen along the way.
What time of the day do you find the most productive when you are writing and how many hours a day do you devote to your writing?
I can get some good ideas first thing in the morning, but my writing window is a couple of hours late in the evening when my son’s asleep, although I do have a good chunk of daytime once a week when my son’s at his grandma’s house.
Who is the biggest influence in your writing and can you name your three favourite novels?
I’m not aware of having one big influence, but probably everything I read influences my writing to some degree.
If I were to choose a few favourite novels, there would have to be an Ian McEwan – The Comfort of Strangers or The Innocent.
Two favourite novels from my university days are Toni Morisson’s Beloved and Graham Swift’s Waterland.
I would have to include George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four – I used to go the school library and read it whenever I had a break. And Muriel Spark’s strange and rather perfect The Driver’s Seat. And Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin – an obvious one but a fantastic read. And a Kurt Vonnegut, perhaps Slaughterhouse-5.
Sorry that’s more than three, but it also helps to answer the influence part of the question!
What single piece of writing advice would you give to budding and novice authors?
Write every day, even if you only write ten words.
Alison Moore is 41, she was born in Manchester and now lives in Leicestershire with her husband and three-year-old son. Her stories have been published in various magazines and anthologies, including Best British Short Stories 2011. Alison has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and the Manchester Fiction Prize. She won first prize in the novella category of The New Writer Prose and Poetry Prizes.
The shortlist for the 2012 Man Booker Prize for Fiction:
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
Swimming Home by Deborah Levy
Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
The Lighthouse by Alison Moore
Umbrella by Will Self
Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil
Nick Rennie 