When the Irish writer Nuala O'Faolain was in her fifties she published her first book. It was a memoir called "Are You Somebody?" She came out to WYSO for an interview during her book tour. Her memoir is breathtakingly fabulous. And so was she. We had a lovely chat that day. I never expected to see her again. But fortunately I did see her again and we had more interviews.
The response to her memoir was so positive that Nuala decided to give this book writing thing another try. She was a columnist for an Irish newspaper. Her memoir sprang miraculously from those newspaper columns. She explained how that happened.
She had gained enough confidence to try her hand at fiction. It wasn't easy for her. She finally figured it out though. Her first novel was "My Dream of You."
I was delighted to have another book to discuss with her. This is a recording of my second interview with Nuala. I felt comfortable with her. I could ask her questions that veered into fraught emotional realms. She was responsive. We were able to explore her feelings about herself.
She kept on writing and I kept asking her about her work. Nuala was precious to me. I felt a genuine connection with her. Nuala O'Faolain died in 2008.
The Book Nook on WYSO is made possible by five local library systems in southwest Ohio: the Greene County Public Library, Washington-Centerville Public Library, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, and Wright Memorial Public Library.
