Entertaining event at the Pavilion Theatre in Dun Laoghaire last night. Claire Keegan was interviewed live on RTE’s Arena arts programme by its presenter Sean Rocks. She was not an easy ride for the amiable and always well-briefed presenter whose customary savoir faire was severely tested. His reasonable questions and mild assumptions frequently provoked tart responses. For instance when he spoke of her lucky break in having a family in the USA sponsor her studies over there, she responded that her own hard work had a lot to do with her success. In addition, her answers, like her novels, tended to be short and succinct leaving the unfortunate Rocks having to dip into his question bag more frequently than felt comfortable. She comes across as very self-possessed and a tad earnest - with little interest in playing the game as it’s usually done at these events where the interviewer lobs a safe question and the interviewee lobs back a bland answer and keeps the ball in play for a while. She did however do three fine readings from her books. Although she comes across as slightly humourless, there were flashes of dry wit. During a discussion of misogyny in Irish men she did aver that due to the smallness of her dating sample she would refrain from generalising. The full house was about 80% women - and they gave her an enthusiastic reception. I am a fan of her work and came away from the event an admirer of this doughty woman also.
