Kevin Holohan once interviewed fellow novelist Joseph O’Neill on stage.
That was back in December 2015 in the old Irish Arts Center building now under renovation. It was for a literature discussion series and inevitably the Cork-born O’Neill’s recent novel “Dog” was the focus (his next will be “Godwin”), although some audience members were likely there to hear and perhaps ask a question about “Netherland,” which had made his reputation and won him legions of fans, President Obama famously among them.
Next week, on Thursday night, May 2, the roles will be reversed at Irish Arts Center’s new headquarters on 11th Avenue: O’Neill will be moderator and Holohan will take the questions about his just published second novel, “So You Wanna Run a Country?” (Go to irishartscenter.org for tickets for the event, which begins at 7 p.m.)
“Nothing this madcap should be this chilling,” said another Irish novelist, Belinda McKeon, about Holohan’s book. “Visionary, virtuoso, and violently funny, this novel looks directly at the eclipse that is 21st-century life and somehow comes away with the strangest floaters of hope.”
“Here’s a book of rare and savory humor,” Irish poet and writer Theo Dorgan said. “The projection of the digital world of spectacle leaves a chilling aftertaste that is both timely and salutary, yet there is a note of hope and yearning that soars beyond the allegorical and satirical strands of the story.”
“Holohan’s prose pops and crackles as he combines an outlandish yet convincing vision of a tech-dominated future,” Kirkus Reviews said. “A raucous, engrossing, unsettling whirlwind of a story that is as disarmingly novel as it is disturbingly familiar.”
The Midwest Book Review described “So You Wanna Run a Country” as “original, deftly crafted, iconoclastic, thought-provoking, entertaining, and very definitely a novel for our times.”
The writer himself attempted a summary for us, “This is a speculative satire dealing with the themes of jingoism, authoritarianism and the blurring and blunting of reality that can happen in a non-stop world of infotainment that flows into people’s heads. Set in a vague future – part of the fun is for the reader to make their mind up about how near or far that might be – this book chronicles the return of the statue of former dictator General Gaspar D’Izmaïe to his homeland, the neo-Dark Age state of Inner Azhuur. The Inner Azhurse authorities have just re-opened contact with the outside world after almost a century of isolation. They have puzzlingly agreed to host this season of the streaming sensation ‘So You Wanna Run a Country?’
“Along with the statue come the cast members Mooney and Wendy, Thoroughfarians from Newer York, where homelessness has been rebranded as a lifestyle choice, and Skid, a shiftless Dubliner who has fled his job as fake street menace in Themetown Glasgow. Ostensibly they are there to be the incompetents who run Inner Azhuur into the ground for the entertainment of the billions of viewers who stream the show directly into their heads on their ¡thinks.”
Holohan continued, “The cast navigate the bizarre rituals and esoteric culture of Inner Azhuur with a mix of puzzlement and derision until suddenly these three find themselves in way over their heads, caught in a plot by the real power brokers of Inner Azhuur who have, it turns out, some very sinister, dangerous and far-reaching ambitions. Our protagonists turn to the mysterious and cloistered Sisterhood for help and things just get weirder from there.”
Kevin Holohan
Date of birth: Dec. 8
Birthplace: Rotunda, Dublin
Spouse: Lisa Diamond
Children: Leo, 18
Residence: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Published works: Novels: “The Brothers’ Lot”; “So You Wanna Run a Country. Essays: “The Writing Irish of New York,” Irish Echo, writing.ie.
What is your writing routine? Are there ideal conditions?
I like to write early in the morning before I am awake enough to read over my own shoulder and critique, preferably pre-dawn. I like to write longhand and have a fountain pen fetish, that I indulge in these moments. I rarely edit as I go. I just go. Most of the time I write what I am currently working on, but other times things just write themselves in the margins and that’s OK. Other times in the day I jot down random things wherever I can: on my phone, voice notes, scarps of paper. Then, when I can steal a reasonably extended, uninterrupted period of time, I take the scrawls and scribbles I have, assemble them, and start editing.
Ideal conditions? An uncluttered room with a views of both the sea and mountains. Madly ambitious and unlikely, but you did ask.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Decide why you want to do it. If you are in it for fame and fortune, you might want to consider putting burning peas up your nose on Tik Tok instead. Don’t try to emulate anyone, use your own voice and find some trusted readers who will give you honest, unvarnished feedback on your work. Allow yourself to make stuff up. Imagine things. Try them out. Play. Make a mess.
Name three books that are memorable in terms of your reading pleasure.
“A Prayer for the Time Being” by Ruth Ozeki; “Riddley Walker” by Russell Hoban; “Apeirogon” by Colum McCann.
What book are you currently reading?
“A Social History of Ancient Ireland” by P. W. Joyce. It is part of my research for a counter-factual novel about the encounter between St. Patrick and some microdosing Druids with powers of precognition who can see the future. I am interested to see how that might have gone.
Is there a book you wish you had written?
This is a strange quantum question in a way. Any book I admire, if I had written it, it would have been a completely different book. In terms of remunerative return, I would Say Harry Potter. If I could imagine a universe where I could produce the work of another without banjaxing it, it would be “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan. It is such a gem of craft and concision. It does so very much so skillfully with such seeming effortlessness. One of the most remarkable books I have read in years.
Name a book that you were pleasantly surprised by.
“Slow Horses” and all the Slough House books by Mick Herron. I had seen the TV show and was curious about the books, little realizing that the TV series was so good precisely because it stuck so close to the wonderful tone and execution of the books.
If you could meet one author, living or dead, who would it be?
This is one of those “be careful what you wish for” questions. I think ideally I would like to walk in companionable silence with Samuel Beckett through the Wicklow mountains and then have a few pints in a pub in Enniskerry and talk about the weather.
What book changed your life?
“The Third Policeman” by Flann O’Brien. I had never read anything like it before (or since) and the wild inventiveness of it opened up a whole wild world. I think most of the books that resonate with me contain some strands of this kind of fantastical imagination that makes you re-see the reality around you and take it less for granted.
What is your favorite spot in Ireland?
Glendalough.
You're Irish if...
You answer yes/no questions with “Well, yes and no...”
Irish Arts Center, 11th Avenue, Manhattan. [Photo: Albert Vecerka/Esto]
