Writer In Lockdown

We chat to bestselling Irish author Marian Keyes

- Jane Vorster

If all had gone according to plan, Marian Keyes would’ve visited South Africa in May and sat down with us for a few fabulous reader events. But sadly, with most of the world in lockdown, the much-loved Irish author was forced to put her tour on hold.

We caught up with Marian (56) via video call at her home in Dún Laoghaire near Dublin to chat about lockdown life and her new novel, Grown Ups.

You should’ve visited our shores by now. Do you know how disappointed your SA fans are that you had to cancel your tour?

I’m also devastated! I was so excited about coming to SA – but hopefully next year.

What have you been getting up to during lockdown?

I’ve been eating a huge amount. It’s been weird – for the first several weeks I was doing a huge number of Zoom interviews and stuff but I couldn’t actually do any writing because my head simply wouldn’t work and it was really hard to read as well.

And there’s actually a reason for that. It’s because we were all so frightened. We were all in flight-or-fight mode and when you’re in that state your imagination is sort of disabled. It’s to keep you alert and vigilant, scanning the horizon for danger.

For the past three weeks or so I’ve been able to start writing decently but it’s been a really strange, scary, awful time.

So, have you been okay spending so much time in isolation or are you feeling cabin feverish?

I’m okay really with this because I’m an introvert anyway. For the likes of me who normally feels like an oddball, it’s been easier than for a lot of people.