Atlantica - 01.09.2007, Síða 70

68 A T L A N T I C A
ICELANDa SPECIAL PROMOTION
Atlantica: Which book will you be reading from at the festival?
Marina Lewycka: I will probably be reading from my new book, Two Caravans
– unless people ask me to read from the other one. I know A Short History of Tractors
was very popular and Two Caravans is a bit different, but I hope people find it interest-
ing too.
A: Are you particularly looking forward to meeting any of the other authors at
the festival?
ML: I’m looking forward to meeting Yasmine Crowther because she’s the cousin
of a friend of mine in Sheffield, so I think we’ll have a lot to talk about. Usually now
when I go anywhere, all the authors are terribly young—but I know there are going to
be some people there older than me, and that’s always very reassuring! I haven’t met
many of the other authors yet—I have seen Jung Chang at festivals before, but only
with a sort of smile across the room. I’ve heard the Icelandic festival is quite intimate,
so I should be able to get to know the other writers and that’s always a great pleasure.
A really well organized festival is something that we all look forward to. Even though
we sometimes complain that it takes us away from writing, really we enjoy it.
A: How autobiographical is Tractors?
ML: Well it isn’t really autobiographical: it started in reality and then took off into
fantasy. It’s a sort of a blend of fact and fiction. When I started, I used to say to journal-
ists, “Oh yes, that really happened and this really happened, but no, this bit I made up,”
and then I would see this terrible look of disappointment in their faces because they
wanted to believe that everything in it was true. So now I don’t answer this question
anymore. I just say it’s all true. It’s not good for the reader to take it apart in this way
I’ve discovered. You think you want to know, but you don’t really.
A: Were you surprised at the success and praise you have received?
ML: I was completely astonished. [A Short History of Tractors] has been very popu-
lar in the UK. It’s sold almost a million, maybe over a million now. But it’s also been
very popular in Germany and in Iceland. Germany I can understand because that’s
part of the story, but Iceland… I don’t know. But I do think it’s a very universal story.
It’s been translated now into something like 34 languages. Funnily enough, though,
Ukraine is one of the few places it hasn’t been published. It has not been very well
received there, because Ukraine is a newly emerged country on the world stage and
they want to be received with dignity. They want a bit of gravitas. They don’t like to
be represented by a woman with enormous breasts and an incontinent old man. It’s
a pity really; because of course satire is a great Ukrainian tradition. I hope they will
come to appreciate it more. Funnily enough, the Ukrainian community in England
thinks it’s wonderful. Hopefully they’ll also warm to the new book which has more of
a contemporary Ukrainian theme.
A: Your second book, Two Caravans, was published this spring. Are you pleased
with the reaction it is getting?
ML: Yes I am. It’s probably going to be a less popular book though, because it’s
more challenging for the reader. It was a very challenging book to write as well,
because I chose to write it in so many different voices.
A: How is your third book coming along?
ML: I’m very much enjoying writing it, but I’m doing a lot of re-writing. It’s the
same as with the Caravans book: I’m not somebody who can just sit down and write.
I write, I re-write and then I re-write again and every time it becomes a little bit differ-
ent. It’s very time consuming, but also very enjoyable.
A: What is the book about?
ML: Well, it’s about a very old lady who lives in a semi-derelict house with eight
cats—but it’s also a modern story of our times. It’s about the conflict in the Middle
East. If you want to see how I put those two things together, you’ll have to wait and
see.
Admission to festival events is free. bokmenntahatid.is
The annual Reykjavík International Literature Festival is gearing
up for its eighth outing between 9 and 15 September. The festival has
grown steadily over the years and has attracted high-profile writers
from all over the world and all parts of the literary spectrum.
The festival aims to be a platform for contemporary literature and
this year’s event will especially look at the ties between fiction,
society and biography. There are more than twenty confirmed
authors already attending, including Jung Chang, Roddy
Doyle and bestselling author of A Short History of Tractors
in Ukrainian, Marina Lewycka. She spoke to Atlantica by
telephone from her home in the UK.
Tractors and Caravans