Graham Lindsay is the author of seven poetry books and the one-time editor and publisher of a literary periodical. He has a degree in English, a diploma in teaching, and was the Ursula Bethell Resident in Creative Writing in 2004. Max Gunn’s Pay Book is his first novel.
Can you tell us a little about the new book?
It’s inspired by stories and snippets of stories my father used to come out with about his experiences particularly in the Second World War. With research I was able to fit the pieces together and fill in most of the gaps.
How difficult was it writing the follow up to your first book and what did you find different about the process from the first book?
It was a mammoth undertaking for me as this is my first prose book. That said it was a relief when adding or subtracting material not to have to re-jig line endings and to be able to write about things that aren’t poetic while at the same time dashing off the odd flourish.
What research was involved?
Books, websites, videos, films, emailing and visiting other researchers and libraries and museums and archives here and in Europe, walking round the remains of POW camps. The first-hand accounts are the most vital.
What was your routine or process when writing this book?
Getting the facts right then drafting and redrafting. Where there were no facts to be had, joining the dots for the sake of the story.
If a soundtrack was made to accompany the new book, name a song or two you would include.
‘Blue Skies’ for hope and tragedy, the sublime and the ironic. ‘Piccolo Pete’ was sung in reference to the Commandante of PG 57, Gruppignano – not in his hearing of course.
What did you enjoy the most about writing Max Gunn’s Pay Book?
At the top of a rich list including the pleasures of research (the reading, the interaction with other researchers, meeting an old man whose mother took him to see the stricken POW ship that had been deposited on his town’s back doorstep, finding the son of the man who safeguarded the wellbeing of my father and fellow escapees after the Italian armistice) would be spending time with my father again albeit imaginatively.
What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?
There were many drafts and after each one I’d pat myself on the back and think ‘Jeez Louise’. Now however I can’t add the odd thing it occurs to me would have fitted perfectly here or there and there’s the business of promotion so in a sense it’s not finished.
What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?
Futilitarianism: Neoliberalism and the Production of Uselessness by Neil Vallelly. The title speaks for itself and the book delivers on it. One of the books our times desperately need us to attend to.
What’s next on the agenda for you?
Getting back to the manuscripts (I’d lost my way with anyway) before deciding it was now or never if I was going to honour the vow I’d made myself when my father died in 1989. I finally got round to cracking on with it in earnest in 2007. It’s been a long haul, a labour of love.
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