Episode Details

This episode of “Irish Writers in America,” a new 13 part series from CUNY TV (City University of New York television station), features a long-form interview with Alice McDermott, who won the National Book Award for her novel, Charming Billy, and whose recent novel, Someone, has received rave reviews in the New York Times and elsewhere.

Alice McDermott talks about the challenge of writing the classic Irish figure of the lovable drunk, her habit of starting a second novel before finishing the current one, and the need to treat writing as a job regardless of its being commonly perceived as a hobby. She explains how 9/11 affected her writing and the overall pursuit of grace, despite tragedy, in her work. She tells the story of how she got her first book deal, how she became known as a chronicler of Irish-American life, and how she has managed to balance her family and writing lives.

Interviewed at her beautiful home in Bethesda, Maryland, McDermott speaks candidly about what continues to drive her to write.

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