Beginner’s
Pluck.
Interviewed
by Sue Leonard.
Published
in the Irish Examiner on 2nd November 2013
Beginner’s
Pluck. Maura Mulligan
As
a teenager Maura was a servant in a big house. Then, sailing for America, she
worked as a telephone operator before becoming a nun. Eventually leaving, she had
occasionally acting parts, and she ran a language school. Then she taught English
in the New York system.
“I started writing in the nineties.
I took a writing course on Achill Island, led by the poet, Macdara Woods. That
was where I first heard the echoes of childhood mingle with the winds of
emigration.”
Who is Maura
Mulligan?
Date
of birth: May 1941 in Aghamore, County Mayo.
Education:
“I left school in Ireland at 12, but I gained a BA when I was in the convent.
Afterwards, I earned an MA in Arts at Hunter College, New York.”
Home:
New Jersey, near New York. .
Family:
A sister Bridie, and a brother John.
The
Day Job: Retired teacher. “I still teach Céilí dancing, and, occasionally,
Irish to adults.”
Interests:
“I love attending dance and music summer schools in Ireland.”
Favourite
Writers: Edna O’ Brien, Frank McCourt, Colm Tóibín. Nuala O’ Faolain and Anne
Lamott
Second
Novel: I’m working on a novel based in Ireland.
Top
Writing Tip: Enjoy the process. If it’s not fun, do something else.
The Debut: Call
of the Lark. Greenpoint Press: €10.70.
This
memoir follows Maura’s childhood in forties rural Ireland, and shows how
emigration, back then, seemed the only choice. It’s a vivid portrait of life as
a nun; the joys, frustrations, the humour, and, finally, after Vatican 11
brought in changes, the decision to leave the confines of that life.
“Leaving Ireland didn’t feel like a free
choice. It was what was expected of you. All that was familiar stayed firmly
planted in my head, and in my heart. I simply had to write it. And besides,
someone needed to give witness to living in that corner of Mayo.”
The Verdict: A
beautiful, gentle memoir of life in a convent. And of a woman unafraid to
change her life.
©
Sue Leonard. 2013.
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