Evie Wyld’s Shelf Life
Evie Wyld is the author of four novels, The Echoes, The Bass Rock, All the Birds, Singing and After the Fire, a Still Small Voice. She has also published a graphic memoir with illustrator Joe Sumner, called Everything is Teeth. She lives in South London and is part of the team at an independent bookshop in Peckham called Review.
How and where are you?
I’m well, thanks, in as much as you can be well as an over-caffeinated middle aged woman the day after the election. I’m too hot, but I’m okay. I’m writing in the ground floor café at the British Library eaves-dropping on the things other people are writing about.
What are you reading right now?
I’ve just started Katie Kitamura’s forthcoming book, Audition. I love her writing, it’s so exact and restrained. I’m only one chapter in but she’s the kind of writer I trust entirely, she is always brilliant.
And, of course, watching or listening to, or otherwise consuming?
I have an embarrassing album on Spotify I listen to while write which is just called ‘Sad Classical’. When I’m not writing I’m listening to Anna B Savage and Adrianne Lenker. I just finished watching (very late to the party) Mare of Eastown, which I thought was excellent. I watch a lot of folk horror, that’s my favourite – Attachment is a story about two women who fall in love and it turns out one of them has a Jewish demon attached to her. It has Sofie Gråbøl in it being amazing, and it’s very funny and human as well as being completely horrific.
What did you read as a child?
The Deptford Mice Trilogy, by Robin Jarvis – I’m just trying to introduce my son to it, but I’m not sure he has the stomach for it – I loved it so much, so dark and incredible. And The Hounds of the Morrigan by Pat O’Shea – all of these are out of print sadly – hope they get reissued at some point. I also loved The Changeover by Margaret Mahy. I got my sweaty paws on a copy of The Silence of the Lambs very young, and then Angela Carter’s short stories.
Which books and/or writers have inspired and influenced you, and what have you learnt from them?
I read Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet when I was a teenager and it made me think about the messiness of people, how interesting they are. I think his work taught me that in dark moments humour is essential. I also learnt an awful lot from Chuck Palahniuk - when I was first writing, he made himself so available to young writers online in a way that was really encouraging. I think the scale of both writers’ work and the fun they clearly have writing their books really influenced me. More recently I feel energised by writers like Daisy Johnson, Natasha Brown, Megan Hunter and Helen Garner. I don’t know if I could put a name to what they’ve taught me but they make me want to continue writing.
What’s the worst review you’ve ever received?
There are two types of bad reviews – the one stars on Amazon which are good for a comfortable bit of self-laceration if I’m in the mood – I enjoy some of these when they’re cross – I get quite a lot of one word ‘Absurd!’ ‘Confounding!’ kind of reviews on there. The other type I keep away from – I tend not to read the professional reviews because I don’t believe the good ones and the bad ones can stop me writing, and make me worry I’m a fraud. Generally I get a thumbs up or a thumbs down from my husband and sometimes he’ll read a nice bit out to me, or tell me not to look in a certain direction. I know there have been a few lately that feel I’m snuggling down into trauma too much. Shrugging emoji.
Tell us a little about your creative process.
I wish it was at all interesting. I like to drink coffee while I write. I love it if the flat is clean. Sometimes I go and work in a café or at the British Library. I write until I’ve written about forty thousand words and then I wonder what I’m doing for a couple of years and then I write about another thirty thousand words and at some point my husband, who is a brilliant ghost writer and editor, reads it and we have a conversation about it, then I cut a load of words and noodle about with it for a while longer and then give it to my agent. It’s not very romantic or exciting but it seems to get the job done. If I’m stuck I go for a walk.
How has your experience of the publishing industry been?
I’ve been very lucky, everyone I’ve worked with has been lovely and clever. It’s not perfect but it is like any other industry really.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Don’t take heroin – I wasn’t even close to taking heroin but I still think it’s sound advice from my father.
What are you working on right now?
I’m working on two things I don’t want to jinx by talking about, but suffice to say I am snuggling down nicely into some more trauma.