On the evening of the 25th of October 2022, the Irish author Jan Carson gave a speech and answered some questions about her work at a Café in Metz.
In the audience I could see people of all generations, and many of the younger ones were from the University and/or future translators.
The owner of the café gave a speech about culture, about how it does not have limits or borders. He introduced the star of the night (Jan Carson, obviously) and her topics: her origins, her books, and the main themes of her books.
Jan Carson is a delightful and funny person despite her difficult past. She was born in 1980 in a Protestant family during the “Troubles” (division between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland) in Ballymena, Ireland. In her family, where religion was very important, she did not have the right to play cards, to dance or to sing, and all forms of art were basically prohibited. It was hard for her, especially when she knew deep inside that she was an artist. Before writing her books, she created a group of women from these two religions that are torn apart. They first discussed “safe” topics like children, what kind of food they liked, etc. They started to trust each other and then they could exchange about the real problems of division in the country. For Jan, art is what brings people together.
Then she started to write books inspired by the people she met. In 2005, she wrote her first book and in 2007, she was published for the first time. She currently has 7 books published among which Postcards Stories, The Fire Starters, which won the EU price for literature in 2019, The Raptures, her last book which is about religion and dying children - though she assured it was still funny. The main themes of her books are religion, which was incredibly present in her life, the history of Ireland written in a magical-realistic way and Language, which is important to her - she uses Irish words to make her books original and authentic.
I was sitting in the front row, so I got to see all her emotions when she was talking about her books and family. She is very implicated in her work and for her it’s not a job, the things she does mean something for her personally.
It’s nice to see a funny and lovely person talking about the real problems in society. She is the kind of artist I recommend you reading and meeting!
Carla Damay, M1 LECSI 1° année /anglais-polonais
