2 minutes with… Ruth McKee

Wild Iris is the striking debut novel from author Ruth McKee, a beautifully written portrait of a woman on the edge that is both deeply moving and witty at the same time. Set over an Easter weekend, as Eve enters a psychological crisis the past bubbles into the present, lifting the veil on her lonely childhood, the friendships, loves and losses of her adolescence, and a tragedy that would shape the rest of her life. We caught up with Ruth to find out more.

Where did the idea for this book begin from? Did your character Eve begin to develop first in your mind, was it the devastating moment around which much of the novel centres, or something else?

I think there is some alchemy in the genesis of a book. Anne Enright referred to the novel as ‘a consciousness machine’ and it’s something I often mention when asked this question, because I think while you are writing one thing, your subconscious may well be deciding what you’re really writing about (and you discover this later). But the kernel of the book began with Eve and her dilemma: to end her life, or to rekindle an old flame?

The book moves between several distinct timelines, showing us Eve’s life from her childhood to middle age. How did you find writing one character from these different perspectives, at very different stages of her life?

The narrative mirrors Eve’s train of thought, so that while we’re inhabiting her contemporary life, we flit back and forth to her peculiar and lonely childhood, to her intense friendship with Louise as a teenager, to a love affair and a tragedy at university—it’s stream of consciousness in some senses, but in a readable, fluid way. I suppose it’s like all of us, we might open a tube of paint and all in a moment we are back at primary school in a plastic apron in front of an easel, or we hear the opening bars of a song and are transported a decade. Of all the parts of her life, I found writing child-Eve to be the most tender, and sometimes the most vulnerable part of the process.

The novel carefully balances both darkness and humour. Can you talk to us about this?

Duality interests me—the older I get the more I think ‘this and that’ as opposed to ‘this or that’. Eve is complex—wounded, anxious, despairing, but also bristling with curiosity, full of empathy, and with some funny observations, even at the darkest moments. John Banville said that art should be serious, but never solemn, and I wholeheartedly agree with that.

Can you tell us another event you are looking forward to on this year’s programme?

A Hosting: Kevin Barry and Martin Doyle in conversation with Paula Shields. Three people I greatly admire in the one room!

Hear more from Ruth at this year’s Emerging Voices event, where she joins authors Edie May Hand and Juliano Zaffino in conversation about their debut novels with Patrick Holloway.

Thursday 5 November, 6:15pm at Bartley’s Lounge in The Grafton Hotel – TICKETS HERE