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Colm Herron

Goodreads Author

Born

Derry, Ireland

Website

http://colmherronthewake.wixsite.com/colm-herron

Twitter

colmherron

Genre

Witness Literature

Member Since

March 2013

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Colm Herron is the author of five novels, including For I Have Sinned and Further Adventures of James Joyce. All received high acclaim. Further Adventures of James Joyce for example was described by Morris Beja in James Joyce Quarterly as “a totally comic novel.” Mr Beja, who is professor Emeritus of literature at Ohio State University, went on to compare Colm’s writing to that of both James Joyce and Irish comic genius Flann O’Brien.

On 2 February 2011 Joyce scholar Doctor Jonathan McCreedy delivered a paper at the Joyce birthday conference in Roma Tre University. His paper was entitled Further Adventures of James Joyce: the crossroads of two reading publics [the two publics being the Joyce aficionado and what Flann O’Brien might have calle Colm Herron is the author of five novels, including For I Have Sinned and Further Adventures of James Joyce. All received high acclaim. Further Adventures of James Joyce for example was described by Morris Beja in James Joyce Quarterly as “a totally comic novel.” Mr Beja, who is professor Emeritus of literature at Ohio State University, went on to compare Colm’s writing to that of both James Joyce and Irish comic genius Flann O’Brien.

On 2 February 2011 Joyce scholar Doctor Jonathan McCreedy delivered a paper at the Joyce birthday conference in Roma Tre University. His paper was entitled Further Adventures of James Joyce: the crossroads of two reading publics [the two publics being the Joyce aficionado and what Flann O’Brien might have called the plain person out for a good read].

On 16 June 2010 as part of a weeklong Bloomsday festival Colm shared the platform with actor Barry McGovern where for six hours under a midsummer sun they did readings alternately, he from Ulysses and Colm from his own novel.

In April 2011 Colm received an invitation from Professor Anne Fogarty of UCD to attend the National Library, Dublin, on the occasion of the annual Joyce Colloquium. Here he discovered that he had two thrilling admirers, namely Fritz Senn, father figure of Joyce scholars worldwide, and Jean-Michel Rabaté the renowned, perhaps unequalled, authority on Joyce, Beckett and a host of other writers and subjects.

Colm’s novel “The Wake” is a comic/serious novel which recalls Samuel Beckett at his most seminal. It opens with an unbroken sequence lasting 22 000 words which uses the setting of a traditional Irish wake to explore the destitution of man and transform it into something like his ennoblement.

The title of Colm's latest novel "A Maiden So Bewitching" is taken from the words of an old Irish song - Courting in the Kitchen - and it tells the story of a boy called Alexis who is brought up as a girl by a deranged mother and makes his way to to manhood in a state of sexual confusion. The same kind of upbringing had befallen the great writer Ernest Hemingway who reacted by living a macho lifestyle and taking out his hatred of his mother by ill-treating most of the women in his life. Alexis reacts in very different ways, sometimes comic, sometimes sad, always appealing - and these ways often land him in serious difficulties.

From the time he sat down to write his first novel Colm has lived by the motto ‘Non-fiction tries to use fact to help us see the lies. Fiction uses metaphor to help us see the truth.’ He later found that he was putting into practice what Nobel prize-winning South African author Nadine Gordimer called “witness literature”. In a Pen lecture given by Gordimer for International Writers' Day in 2002 Gordimer talked of the felling of the twin towers on 11 September 2001."Terror pounced from the sky and the world made witness to it," she said. She then went on to consider the media coverage of that terrible day and examined the difference between the reporter's job, the pundit's job and that of the writer. "Meaning is what cannot be reached by the immediacy of the image, the description of the sequence of events, the methodologies of expert analysis,” she said. “Kafka says the writer sees among the ruins different (and more) things than others … it [witness literature] is seeing what is really taking place."
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In what ways does The Wake's Jeremiah Coffey bear resemblance to the author Colm Herron? And in what ways do those two personages differ?

Colm Herron We’re like peas in a pod. Well, not quite I suppose. For a start, both he and I were certain that people who practised extramarital sex were bound for…moreWe’re like peas in a pod. Well, not quite I suppose. For a start, both he and I were certain that people who practised extramarital sex were bound for hell and those who practised it with bisexuals had an especially hot corner reserved for them. For Jeremiah, these rigidly held beliefs were severely tested when he fell in love with a charismatic bisexual girl called Aisling and began to sleep with her. So from then on every moment of his life quickly turned into a crumbling precipice that he could fall from anytime and end up, or rather down, among the damned.

However, what happened during the wake (of the title) and what came after caused him to look again at his absolute principles. It took Colm Herron a lot more time than Jeremiah to begin to question the sexual morality that we Catholics were taught in the Sixties and Seventies. Most Catholics then, men especially, thought of sex as both very desirable and very shameful. And it took Jeremiah quite a while to understand that, in genuine relationships, sex should not be a thing apart but rather a part of the thing called love. For Colm Herron it took much longer.

Added to this was the fact that Aisling was a fiery political activist and Jeremiah was anything but. In fact he was deeply cynical about the motivations of those with strongly held political convictions that he felt could bring bloody revolution and great misery. In short, he was both a pacifist and a conformist. But Aisling was an idealist whose commitment to personal freedom and civil rights in Ireland and abroad brought her into conflict with the state and Church authorities. I, the author, wavered between the two. And I still haven’t come to a conclusion about, for example, when violence is justified.

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"Women and Freedom"
A new blog post that deals with themes from The Wake:

http://www.colmherronpublishing.com/#...
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The Wake is dedicated to your daughter, Nuala Herron (an exceptional artist in her own right). Was she around the same age as the Jeremiah character when you began writing the book? If so, was this an impetus at all? Do you think you could have written this novel before you were a parent?

Colm Herron I dedicated The Wake to Nuala because she did a really flattering portrait of me in oils. And it’s now there on my website and on the back cover of my…moreI dedicated The Wake to Nuala because she did a really flattering portrait of me in oils. And it’s now there on my website and on the back cover of my novel. (Don’t everybody rush at once. Flattering is a relative term). She got very little money for her efforts but I hope she is consoled because no longer can people say about me: “He’s no oil painting.” Actually, I’m very proud of her and I’m making a promise here and now that I’ll pay her a lot more if The Wake (And What Jeremiah Did Next) makes me rich. So there it is in writing.

Nuala was in fact around the same age as Jeremiah when I began the novel. But this was not an impetus. The spur was to get myself into another novel. I’d been in the first three so I wanted to keep it going. In this way (though in no other way) I suppose I could be compared to the late Alfred Hitchcock who liked to have at the very least a walk-on part in his movies.

To get to the last part of your question: "Do you think you could have written this novel before you were a parent?" The answer is no and the reason is that I would have been afraid to explore existential questions.

The influence of my wife Fidelis was paramount here. She encouraged me to think outside of myself and to question everything the high and the mighty said. She supported and shared my growing agnosticism in matters both religious and secular. And she told me I was funny. “You’re comical,” she would sometimes say. “Get that thing you just said down paper and you’ll have them rolling in the aisles” (Like mother, like daughter. They both flatter). I asked her if she meant the aisles of our local church. She said she did not.

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*The Wake* on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017CCHRNG
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Colm Herron’s books

Average rating: 4.4 · 103 ratings · 47 reviews · 8 distinct works

	The Wake 4.37 avg rating — 59 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Anna 4.62 avg rating — 13 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Further Adventures of James Joyce 4.07 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2010 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	a maiden so bewitching 4.86 avg rating — 7 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	For I Have Sinned 4.33 avg rating — 6 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fabricator 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Wake: And What Jeremiah Did Next 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Fabricator by Colm Herron (2012-06-06) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Colm Herron…

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Colm Herron's Blog

AS BIG ARNIE DIDN'T SAY

First of all, as Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t say: “I’m back.” After a prolonged absence – 13 months of spying and writing – I’m back. John Doe, Joe Blow, Joe Bloggs, whatever you want to call me, I’m back to blog.
You may have noticed the word spying there. The truth is, I’ve been out and about working undercover for ages now and I’ve written up lots of reports. My publisher calls them fiction but Read more of this blog post »

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Published on March 15, 2014 03:26

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The Wake (And What Jeremiah Did Next)

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Quotes by Colm Herron (?)

“Colm Herron’s The Wake (And What Jeremiah Did Next) — a nod to the nickname for James Joyce’s final bewildering novel Finnegans Wake — is yet another exciting Irish comic work, packed with psychosexual and historicocritical detail, by the critically acclaimed, constantly inventive and forward thinking Derry author.”
― Colm Herron, The Wake

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“I’ll do that,” he said and then whispered in my ear: “You couldn’t give me a wee nip of something Master could you? I’m just feeling a bit weak. I’ll be all right if I get a wee nip to bring me round.” “I will surely.” I said. “Paddy all right?” “The very thing Master. Just a nip now,” demonstrating with finger and thumb wide apart.”
― Colm Herron, The Wake

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“I was thinking I might put a tow bar on her next week.” Seamus laughed with his head away back.”
― Colm Herron, The Wake

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