2 minutes with… Paul Perry

What if James Joyce had never left Ireland again and instead had succeeded in his project to open Ireland’s first cinema, becoming a movie mogul of sorts rather than a literary icon? Paradise House is a vividly conjured reimagining of what might have been, an alternate reality with Joyce as a Gatsby-like figure, set against the backdrop of the revolution. We caught up with author Paul Perry to find out more.

What inspired you to write this reimagining of Joyce’s story?

I’ve loved the noise around Joyce as much as the books—the side streets, the scraps, the myths. I wanted to meet him off-stage, in the half-light, and let the city talk back. The cinema thread drew me in too: light, dust, a beam across a room. Rather than pastiche, it’s a conversation with the original, from the projection booth rather than the podium.

Could you tell us about the Gatsby influence in the novel?

I borrowed the angle, not the plot: a clear moral gaze standing slightly aside. Gatsby taught me about longing described in a clean sentence, and about how glitter can throw real shadows. So the book uses a Nick-like witness—cooler surface, deep feelings underneath—and lets style carry the ache.

Why tell it through the projectionist and Kinch/Joyce’s assistant, Jacob Moonlight?

Because he’s the right distance. Jacob is inside the circle but not the centre; he threads the reels, watches everything, and is almost invisible to the people he studies. That booth vantage lets him hold doubt and wonder at once. He can love the performance and still catch the splice, which is what a novel about memory and making needs.

Another event you’re looking forward to at this year’s festival?

Poetry Ireland Introductions | Céadlínte at The New Theatre, Temple Bar. I love the charge of early-career voices—Irish and English side by side—the sense of discovery you only get in a small room. It’s the kind of night that resets the ear and sends you back to the desk.

Hear Paul speaking about his book, alongside Hazel Gaynor speaking about her own reimagining, Before Dorothy. The authors will be in conversation with Aoife Barry, Saturday 8 November at 1pm in our Festival Hub at IMMA Venues. BOOK TO JOIN US