Colm Toibin in SF for Nora Webster and for Caryl Perloff's "Testament of Mary"
Janet Roberts and Colm Toibin Irish Society a sponsor I said hello to Colm Toibin. I reminded him we met at Fudan University and M in Shanghai; he said “you are living here now?” I remarked that he is looking especially well, that America must be agreeing with him(he has been a year at Princeton, then Stanford and now Columbia University). He replies with a laugh, that he thinks a good shower is key to appearance, especially at his age; being really clean goes a long way! He humorously rubs his bald head, which is shining. The book, " Brooklyn" which he was touring in Shanghai, when he judged the First Asian Booker prize , is being made into a movie. I told him I participated in a book discussion about Brooklyn, a week after his reading, in Beijing. I tell him that I remember his lecture about always knowing the house in your story, that it is central to a convincing narrative in that you know where the boards creak on ...