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Late start, good results for Andrea Levypleasures. However, she is quite aware that a writer cannot waitTanya Batson-SavageFreelance Writer ACCORDING TO some, AndreaLevy came to writing late in life, having begun in her 30s. Levy was one of the authors slated toheadline the 2005 CalabashInternational Literary Festival in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth, from May 27-29, reading from the Great Non-American Novel yesterday afternoon.A child of Jamaican emigrants to Britain, it is her second visit to the island and she expresses great interest in getting to know the place better, in part as research. We meet in the hotel lobby, but soon escaped thethought-preventing noise of the cafe for the poolside. Dressed in a green, flowing, floral skirt and white blouse. Levy looks ready for an island vacation. She displays an easy manner and a ready smile.She began writing after thedeath of her father and her firsttrip to Jamaica w as a catalyst for her stones, as it aroused her curiosity ”. However, it was not an attempt to get therapy for the loss. ! thought it was a good thing to do, Levy says, explaining how she started writing. She began taking writing classes, though she did not consider it as a career option as she was quite prepared to give it up should itnot work out. [his changed, however, when she realised thatshe had an issue to explore, her family's history, and somethingto say. ¥When her father died, Levy felt the need to visit the island of his birth. On coming to Jamaica she discovered a personal history and family she had not known about before and with that discovery came something to write about. Her first three novels explore the issues faced by black British-born children of Jamaican emigrants. Every Light in the House Burnin (1994) is a semi-autobiographi-cal tale of a Jamaican family living in London in the 1960s.Never Far from Nowhere(1996) deals with two sisters living in a London council estate. In Fruit of the Lemon (1999) tells the story of a woman w ho visits Jamaica after a nervous breakdown and discovers a personal history.Small Island (2004) is Levy's most successful novel. It has earned the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Whitbread Book of the Year (2004) and theCommonwealth Writer s Prize for Best Book (2005). In 1998Levy received the Ails CouncilAward.Small Island s success has meant that for the past year, Levy has been doing the thingshe finds most difficult about writing: the performance that comes after readings, interviews and talks. Levy finds this verbal place” difficult to deal with, because she fears being misrepresented. She explains that her • writing process takes place in six-page stages, which are f irst written in longhand then typed, then she chips away to get it just right so that it says exactly what she wants to. This is not possiblewhen giving interviews and the like.On the other hand, having written” is what she describes as the most enjoyable bit. She explains that the feeling she getson inspiration.Writing is one of those things that everyone wants to do, but it's very hard work.” she says. You have to know it's a craft. You have to read and then you have to write.She also admits that having something to say would also be great.Despite her current success. Levy faced her share ot rejection w ith her first book. Being a writer is 50 per cent talent and 50 per cent tenacity, she says.You have to take it on the chin and say this is part of it . Her chin appears to have recovered from any bruising.w hen it appears that something else has taken over and she is just singing”’ is one of life's best
Newspaper Details
Kingston Gleaner
Kingston, Kingston, JM
Sun, May 29, 2005
Page 58
Full Page
Clipped by
Susun W.
USA 15 Feb 2019
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