Máire Fisher
Writer, writing teacher, mentor
“The truth behind a story is incredibly important. Discovering what’s hiding behind the curtain, under the bed, swept under the carpet. Discovering the truth of what a character wants, watching as they make their way towards it, seeing what they do to get there."~ Máire Fisher
BOOKS
First published in South Africa
by Penguin Random House, 2018
CATALYST PRESS
North American release date 14 January, 2025
First published in South Africa
by Penguin Random House, 2014
CATALYST PRESS
North American release date, 2026
PRAISE
Praise for The Enumerations
A strangely moving story I sometimes think that being mildly OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) is part of being alive — we all have our peculiar little rituals that get us through the day. But when the condition gets out of control, it can be devastating for the sufferer and for those around them. Rather than an aid to coping, it inhibits the person entirely. In Máire Fisher’s fascinating and powerful novel, the sufferer is Noah Groome, an adolescent whose mild OCD becomes catastrophic after he and his mother are hijacked. It makes it impossible for him to function at school, drives his buttoned-up, successful father to fury and fills his mother with guilt. Only his younger sister, Maddie, seems able to help him. Then, pushed over the edge by the school bully, he retaliates and the school insists he be sent to Greenhills — a residential facility dealing with troubled teens. Noah feels perpetually threatened by “the Dark”, which can only be kept at bay by his rituals; and at the beginning of his time at Greenhills, neither one-on-one sessions with a therapist, nor working with a group seem to help. But there is also Juliet, another inmate and former schoolmate of Noah’s. She has an alcoholic mother and an abusive father; but she is also a noisy, disruptive treatment for the reclusive Noah — in many ways his first real friend. Meanwhile, running parallel to Noah’s story is that of Gabriel, another troubled child whose horrific past sees him growing up in a children’s home, completely separated from the rest of his family. If all this sounds deeply depressing, don’t worry. Fisher controls her narrative with a steady hand, creating characters the reader can care about, and offers a leavening of humour, both in the society she depicts and in the goings-on at Greenhills. Towards the end, as the parallel stories converge in their alternating chapters, Noah, Juliet and Maddie’s activities take on the pace of a thriller, reaching a deeply satisfying conclusion. Fisher’s exploration of mental conditions and their effects on both sufferers and their families makes for a strangely moving story. One of the best local novels to come my way for some time. MARGARET VON KLEMPERER MARGARET VON KLEMPERER (books editor and the former arts editor of the Witness newspaper)
A fine book that grips the reader from beginning to end. This is a novel not to be missed. NOAH Groome is 17 years old and lives with his father Dominic, his mother Kate and his younger sister Maddie. All should be well with the Groome family, they live in a lovely house, Kate is a devoted mom to her children, and Dominic is a partner in a thriving accountancy practice. But, there’s a problem. Noah suffers from Obsessive Compulsion Disorder (OCD) – every part of his day is mapped and planned, he relies on the number five to keep things in order, five steps this way, five steps that way, five pebbles in his pocket to finger… His walls are covered with schedules and timetables. Always an A-student something has tipped Noah further into the nightmare of his life with OCD, he also must keep away “the dark” to protect his family. Things come to a head when Noah is being taunted by the school bully and his gang of admirers, and a cornered and much bullied Noah thrashes out and hurts another boy. His parents are called in and they have to face up to the fact that Noah needs help – three months in a residential home that treats teens with problems. Kate is heartbroken by the move, Maddie is distraught at not having her brother at home, and Dominic retreats into stepped up routines of running and gardening – keeping things in order, but unable (or apparently unwilling) to give any emotional support to his wife, daughter, or his son. Noah doesn’t want to be at Greenfields and he begins his stay there by counting down the days until his three months are up. He is watched over by Mr Bill and has therapy with Ms Turner who is good at reading Noah. Running alongside the story of Noah and his family is the story of another boy, Gabriel, his mom and his baby sister Harriet who have been deserted by their gambling father and husband. They have taken “refuge” with Gabriel’s mother’s father, an abusive old man who does everything he can to break down the young boy and abuses his mother. Maire Fisher has created in both story lines a compelling and sensitive story about families with problems. There’s a couple of sidebar stories to the novel, there is Juliet the bad girl from Noah’s school who is also at Greenfields, she moves into his carefully curated spaces and her spontaneity and kindness to him break down some of his barriers. Kate and Juliet’s mother know each other socially and all is not well at Kate’s home. There are secondary characters at the home who all bolster up the novel’s main theme: how we are damaged and how we damage. Fisher has a deft hand in writing about adolescents. She pens her characters with a sure hand that honours their pain and suffering without any condescension. This makes The Enumerations a book that will appeal to both adults and teens. Noah’s life is not just about symptoms though, he has a project he has been working on for school, drawing up a family tree. He’s done well on it on his mother’s side of the family drawing ready to access information from the old family Bible and hearing stories from Kate. But he has drawn a blank on his father’s side. Dominic, whose parents are dead, wants nothing to do with the project, but is haunted by his son’s frequent emails begging for any information he can follow up on. The more Noah asks the more Dominic retreats into his own world. Fisher may have made Noah the main character of her book, but the other characters are just as important and well realised. Kate lives in a world of despair as her family is separated from the daily presence of Noah, she can’t understand why her husband doesn’t want to visit at family visiting time on Sundays. Maddie misses her brother horribly and can’t wait for Sundays to see him. And on the subject of Maddie Fisher, she shows us just how perceptive her writing and her ability to read her characters is, because Maddie is damaged by having to be the “golden child”, the one who always puts on a cheerful face to oil the rusty nature of her family life. As Noah spends more time at Greenfields, he finds that his friendship with Juliet makes him slightly more relaxed. She’s not as bad as she has been painted and Noah begins to see some light at the end of the tunnel. All the while the reader is teased by the story of Gabriel and why his life is being recaptured in the book. He isn’t from a wealthy family and unlikely to end up at the refined Greenfields. So, why is his story in the novel at all? All part of a wonderful plot that Fisher weaves with extraordinary skill. As Noah is forced or helped to peel back the truths that have made his inherent OCD spiral out of control and allow in the dark, Fisher peels back a story of suburban suffering and subterfuge. There is a reason that one of the moms from the school drinks so much, there is a horrendous reason why one of the teens is at Greenfields, all hidden beneath the veneer of polite society. But it’s a society where the horror breaks through into the cocktail parties on occasion and is seen not for what it is, but for something for those without visible problems to shun and gossip about. Fisher’s book is a tragic delight (if such a thing exists), she allows both her teen and adult protagonists to find their way – sometimes with extreme difficulty – to a form of salvation if not complete healing. The Enumerations is a fine book that grips the reader from beginning to end. Wise without being boring; sad, but with a refreshing sense of humour in places, and an unsentimental but real story about the dark that surrounds the most seemingly successful and ordinary people. This is a novel not to be missed. A gripping read; wise without being boring; sad, but with humour Cape Times review by Jennifer Crocker
‘This book is a blessing’ – Tracey Farren reviews The Enumerations by Máire Fisher By Tracey Farren If you are a little OCD or a lot; if you know someone who is a little OCD or a lot, you will be fascinated to be in the company of Noah, a brave young man who is at the mercy of his mind much of the time. In her writing of the novel, The Enumerations, Máire Fisher has gone with a largesse of heart into the deep dark with characters who society so easily flings into our ‘DSM 5 Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders’ and presents them as spirited, heroic individuals who, like all of us, are trying their very best but find themselves at the far end of the suffering spectrum. Noah’s story kicks off with a horrible incident at school after which he is sent to Greenfields treatment clinic for three months. The writer sees Noah through this crisis time with a delicate balance between humour and hope, letting us laugh and fall in love without ever being disrespectful of his excruciating difficulties. Fisher digs politely behind the smiling mask of the middle class to expose the secrets of Noah’s silent, successful father and his tired, valiant mother whose rage and shame slowly leaks through her pretence at coping. She also hangs out in the angry mind of Noah’s sister, the ‘sunshine’ child whose role in the family is to be fine, fine, fine. At Greenfields, Fisher creates unlikely healers and unexpected allies in residents like the young sex addict, Juliet who barges into Noah’s room and his already throttled schedule to bat her eyes and lick her lips to kingdom come, but Noah is fretting far too much about not having enough tea mugs to pick up her cues. Noah is also forced to share his terribly scarce time with Vuyo, a young woman who counts calories as obsessively as Noah counts his steps to the canteen, and Willa, an outrageously defiant individual with a complex gender identity and a kickass pair of boots. To further electrify the novel, Fisher has woven a frightening, high-action thread through the narrative that follows the trauma of a boy called Gabriel, and we wait in suspense to see how he might also crash into Noah’s mental terrors. The Enumerations is not only luminous with love and elegantly written but meticulously researched. This combination of gifts makes it not only a powerful read but a deeply healing book for people and families who are struggling with psychological ‘conditions’ or the condition of being, well, human. This book is a blessing.
Fisher's prose debut, Birdseye, really impressed me. The author achieved something quite unusual in that an intimate family saga had an added unexpected minor note in the form of a shocking crime story to the whole. Birdseye particularly touched upon the mastery of perspective and capturing the voice of an adolescent female protagonist as the chambers of the heart are visited one by one. Fisher has also made a name for herself as a writer who handles color and detail with care. So when I started tackling The Enumerations, my expectations were quite high – how wonderful to be able to state unequivocally that the second jump is more sophisticated, more complex and more satisfying! As with Birdseye, the emphasis is on character. Noah Groome is 17, witty, sensitive, handsome and reserved. Noah has obsessive-compulsive neurosis (OCD). Why is Noah hunted by his OCD, by "The Dark"? Will he ever be able to live less anxiously? How do Noah's experiences affect his family, such as his protective sister, Maddie, his mother, Kate, who does her best to take care of her son, and his aloof father, Dominic? The number five becomes a type of sword and shield against the complexity of a world, outside and inside, which every moment threatens to engulf Noah like the Great Flood. Everything has meaning, holds secrets and codes to be deciphered. Like Noah, Noah must listen to the voices that speak to him and he becomes the pivot of events far greater than just himself. Speaking of biblical intertextuality: the way in which the author colors the story of Noah with various data and direct references to the Bible makes reading this book worthwhile in itself. One apt example is how Noah always carries five pebbles around with him to rub when he gets anxious. Then Noah thinks of David and Goliath; good conquering evil. An incident at Noah's school becomes a door to open trauma and loss in a profound way. Admittedly, there is an abundance of texts, fiction and non-fiction, each reflecting on trauma, impermanence, psychic injury and physical violence. The Enumerations – the perfect title for a novel that will offer each reader its own code and message and is in many ways a Great Novel – is distinguished by focusing specifically on the different ways in which trauma is hidden and hedged in or treated. What stands out throughout is the attention to structure, outstanding characterization, sustained humanity and a storytelling technique in which each chapter is presented in short, visual snippets. ■ Jonathan Amid is a freelance critic from Stellenbosch
Praise for Birdseye
Fight, flight, live: find your story Cape Times review After Nadia Davids so evocatively captured female youth and the tensions of growing up as a Muslim girl during the interregnum in An Imperfect Blessing, Maire Fisher’s luminous debut, Birdseye, offers an altogether less political, but no less intriguing, South African narrative. Spanning a measure of time from 1984 to 1995, Fisher draws the reader in from the start, telling the story of Amelia “Bird” Little, her parents, Annie and Oliver and her five siblings: sisters Angela, Anthea and Alice, and twin brothers Oliver and Oscar. The story of the Little family is defined by the menacing, icy presence of matriarch Ma Bess, who rules over their home, the Marchbanks-Hall mansion in Harbiton, with a steely grip. Ma Bess is an “ice queen” and a “dragon” whose malicious actions and intemperate words thunder through the passages. She has little time for any of her grandchildren, despises her son-in-law Orville, and has a terrible secret to keep, one that involves the wonderfully named “Pa God”, which will have her family reeling. Yet Birdseye concerns itself not only with the vicissitudes of the Little household in relation to the terrifying Ma Bess. A far greater narrative of all-consuming loss is to take hold of the young life of Bird, so named because of the gentle cheeps she made at birth. Her twin brothers disappear after a fishing trip, and this cataclysmic event – affecting each member of the Little family differently, but having a particularly pronounced effect on the development of the young Bird – sets in motion the desperate attempts by a sensitive girl to keep the memory of her beloved brothers alive. It is no accident that the boys leave Bird with a memento – a fish hook, before their fateful departure: Fisher’s novel finds a fitting way to hook the reader, presenting written correspondence from the traumatised Bird to her brothers, writing that captures all the pain, disillusionment, lyricism, tenderness, tenacity, playfulness and a conscious desire to stand guard against forgetting that apply to the novel as a whole as well. It is, furthermore, an entirely apposite narrative device to employ Bird’s one-sided “conversations”, where she is able to find her own voice and determine the texture and content of her stories in relation to the powerlessness and alienation she feels as the rest of her family, particularly her three sisters – characterised in turn by their submissive, rebellious and questioning natures – each finds their own set of wings, and battle to escape from various cages, be they domestic, social, or explicitly political. If Birdseye is a meditation on the power dynamics that make families what they are, it is also acutely aware of the way that life has an uncanny way of pulling the rug from under our feet, leaving us with mysteries that might never be sufficiently answered. As the disappearance of Bird’s twin brothers leave a terrible absence in the lives of the Littles, Birdseye’s narrative trajectory slowly but surely inches closer to the telling of an altogether different kind of story: the detective thriller. Fisher adroitly shifts gears to accommodate a stylistic and thematic fork in the road where the tone becomes altogether more gloomy, the protagonist finds herself consumed less by grief than by obsession, and the bare bones of the truth are delivered by a Detective Ace: the world is much greater than Marchbanks-Hall, and filled with men that would love nothing more than to see the world burn. Giving nothing away, the novel’s portentous conclusion confirms that the protagonist indeed has the courage of her convictions. Ditto the author. In a protean narrative that shifts its thematic focus while remaining constant in focalisation, we encounter lucid, considerably warm prose – cutting across intriguing views on forms of love and relationships, loss, the nature of freedom and the need to keep searching in life – figured through metaphorical language that makes full use of references to birds (wings, feathers, flight) and angels (halos, light, wings, purity and protection). Only on occasion does this technique become too ornate and distracting. A debut brimming with quiet confidence, Birdseye offers far more than a cursory glance or a simple view from above at ordinary people touched by extraordinary sadness. As we journey from caverns of darkness and pain to faint glimmers of hope and tremendous courage, from a girl’s quest to remember her brothers and to guard against oblivion to our own ever-pressing need to tell our own stories and find a place to call home, we are reminded of the need to search for truth, no matter how trying the quest. Review: Jonathan Amid
Bird flying - reviews, social media - out in the world @ToniJeanErasmus May 21 Was up till 4am devouring 'Birdseye' by @MaireFisher. Its like she put a Miss Havisham/Rochesters wife hybrid in 90's South Africa. Magic :D @sandra_claassen @MaireFisher Hi.We want to do Birdseye for g8 in 2015 but are worried about availability + price. We will need ±220. Maire Fisher @MaireFisher Aug 26 @sandra_claassen Wow, Sandra! Let me find out and get back to you! Love the idea of Grade 8s reading #Birdseye! Caryn Gootkin @CarynGootkin Sep 9 What a treat to meet the delightfully named @MaireFisher at #OBF2015, creator of the equally delightful Bird in #Birdseye. Modjaji Books @modjaji_bks Dec 11 5th @MaireFisher's debut, Birdseye, perfect for a holiday read, when you can read in one long go, thrillerish, family saga Cape Town setting From Grace Johnson (Tracey Farren’s daughter, +/-20 yrs old) I was supposed to get up early to go to home affairs tomorrow morning, but sheesh, your book Maire. Truly gripping. Amazon Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful story of a girl's love and loyalty. By Sonpoppie "Sunflower" A beautiful story of a girl's love and loyalty. It's a coming-of-age story; set in a sleepy fishing village south of Cape Town, Amelia Little, known to her family as Bird, loves her twin brothers very much. Her allies, her playmates, the ones who teach her, tease her, get up to tricks with her, go missing -- never to be found. Amelia never forgets as she begins to write to them, describing and recording life at home. She is the eye that watches, the eye that sees the injustices as she records everything so that her brothers will not miss out. It's lovely, it's heart-wrenching. You'll never forget little Bird. 4.0 out of 5 starsSatisfaction gauranteed! By John Mountfordon I’m browsing the South African Fiction shelves in the bookstore, checking out the competition. ‘Birdseye’, by Maire Fisher. Maire? How do you pronounce that? I’m already skeptical. First novel – another red light. But the title intrigues me. I flip open the cover and read page one. At page nineteen I look up and realise I’m in trouble: nothing to do with the book – I’m late for movies with my wife! I love this tale told in narration. Gentle, patient and carefully worded, it builds to an unexpectedly tense and satisfying climax. Each character is worthy of their place in this terribly human drama: Orville and Annie – a love story that attempts to anchor the turbulence of life at Marchbanks. Ma Bess – a despot to rival Miss Havisham. Anthea, Angela and Alice – as different and divided as only sisters can be, and little help to the baby of the family: Bird. Bird is aptly named as the narrator and protagonist in this story: small, plain and sometimes timid, but with a spirit that soars above the ground floor of life at Ma Bess’s mansion. She alone is loyal enough to the memory of her brothers to confront and defeat the evil that threatens to destroy her family. Bird will stay with me long after this book is buried in my shelves, and I’ll be happy to have her flitting around. 5.0 out of 5 stars Please read this fabulous book By David Pagan This is a book with many facets : the coming of age of the heroine, Bird Little, the mystery of her twin brothers' disappearance, the domination of a family by a malignant grandmother. But it is most stunningly about loss and how one deals with it. This is a first novel from an exceptionally talented author who, I hope to God, writes many more. The story of Bird Little is possibly the best book I have read this year. 5.0 out of 5 stars This is a brilliantly written book and I was drawn into the story ... By Puppy1952 This is a brilliantly written book and I was drawn into the story from the very beginning and then simply could not put it down. It is the sort of story that stays with you for ages afterwards. I loved all of the characters and the story is full of action, humour and drama. It is an absorbing and excellent read. 5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars By Ms Felicity J. Yates "Flic" Beautiful - I couldn't put it down 4.0 out of 5 starsHappy to recommend to friends By Jan Hurst-Nicholson "Jan" A sympathetic main character, enough mystery and intrigue to keep the pages turning, and memorable characters (one who you eagerly await receiving her come-uppance) make this an enjoyable read. A book to recommend and pass on to friends. 4.0 out of 5 starsWhat a wonderful read this was By Lidia What a wonderful read this was. Because the story is told against the backdrop of places well known to me, it contributed to the fact that it was so enjoyable.I would've liked to read more out of the pen of this very talented writer. 5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a definite must-read! Maire Fisher has ... By Cheryl This book is a definite must-read! Maire Fisher has created a delightful character in Bird. I cried with her, laughed with her and felt her frustrations through each printed word. 5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars By Maureen Clellandon January 4, 2015 What a brilliant book. Good Reads 4.42 24 ratings · 9 reviews Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars Shelves: south-african-fiction Complex family relationships. A mystery disappearance. A detective. Friendship. Family secrets. Determination. A beautifully told story of family love and heartbreak and joy. Bird the narrator of the story in the youngest of five children and the story is told through her eyes from when she was six until she is sixteen. There are so many poignant, well described moments like this one: 'So there I was, Bird, flying fast and true, my skirt lifted by the wind, a furious gladness in my heart. I was free to lean into the taut pliancy of his back, move as his bike did, from left to right, curling aound corners, fast on the straight. Too fast, because we arrived at Marchbanks within minutes. Paolo stopped the bike and waited for me to clamber off. I unlcipped the helmet,worried that my hair was a mess, only too aware of my blue skirt adn plain white blouse, untucked now at the waist, my short ankle socks and childish school shoes, my rucksack with the babyish badges pinned to the straps.' Tiah Not an easy book to quote from. Many lines that struck a chord would spoil the story for the next reader. Which is unfair to both future readers and the author. So takes these as a pale shadow of a compelling read. - I must have been the only girl in town who looked for her real parents in their wardrobes. My father's left-behind clothes, mothballed for eternity. My mother's - row upon row of bright suits, dresses, gowns. Pumps, and open-toed sandals. - - By the time I was born, four years later, everything had run out. The last to go had been hope, waving a final goodbye, as Annie learned she was pregnant with me. - - My dreams weren't what frightened me. It was waking up from them...- - I learned to deny who I was, creating a person totally unlike myself. I learned to squash my thirst for knowledge, my longing to let stories spill out of me. - - And then, if what she sees and hears pleases her, she bends a little lower, sucks our dreams away and leaves us flat and empty. - Tracy rated it 5 of 5 stars I loved this novel. Maire, please write more. Bird so needs to be set free and allowed to fly as a private investigator in a series. Christine rated it 5 of 5 stars A beautiful story of a girl's love and loyalty. It's a coming-of-age story; set in a sleepy fishing village south of Cape Town, Amelia Little, known to her family as Bird, loves her twin brothers very much. Her allies, her playmates, the ones who teach her, tease her, get up to tricks with her, go missing -- never to be found. Amelia never forgets as she begins to write to them, describing and recording life at home. She is the eye that watches, the eye that sees the injustices as she records everything so that her brothers will not miss out. It's lovely, it's heart-wrenching. You'll never forget little Bird Denise rated it 5 of 5 stars GoodReads Community Reviews From the start I could not put this book down - the author has a beautiful writing style, one that allows the reader to be inside the characters. The family life will resonate with so many, sibling jealousies, sibling love. Why is Ma Bess always so mean? There is a lot to smile about with the escapades of the main character Bird. But too always a darkness around the missing boys - this intensifies in the final chapters but once again Birds approach to family issues lightens the story line and has the reader smiling again. Very looking forward to reading more by this amazing author. Wendy Smyth rated it 5 of 5 stars Absolutely loved this book. If this is her first I await another with anticipation Danielle rated it 4 of 5 stars Loved this book! A fabulous story of an unusual family. Beautifully told through the voice of Bird. On Facebook Jonathan Jono Amid, (Lecturer and literary PhD student at Stellenbosch University, +/- 30 yrs old) The Good Book Appreciation Society For those that loved The Spiral House and Atonement, make a point of reading Maire Fisher's Birdseye before the hype-machine starts rolling. It's a shape-shifting, lucidly compelling and finely embroidered novel offering one of the most finely sketched protagonists you could ask for. I balk at revealing ANY plot spoilers, but it is a family saga, bildungsroman and detective story all in one, and it comes off beautifully. Umuzi never fails! Marius Du Plessis (Local publisher and reviewer, mid 20s) Hi! Birdseye review will go up next week sometime. Máire, what have you done to me! That book is a masterpiece - I'm guessing it will be on the shortlist for the Sunday Times Fiction prize next year!! Marius Du Plessis on Good Book Appreciation Society I would just like to pop in and ask whether you all have read Birdseye by Máire Fisher because it is a masterpiece and I loved it so much I'm not even using commas here I loved it so much! Jonathan Jono Amid Hi Maire Umuzi were kind enough to send me a copy of Birdseye. Read it tonight and I thought it was excellent: intelligent, perceptive, nuanced and beautifully written. Congrats! Ps- loved the acknowledgements! Annette Snyckers My husband is a critical reader and he LOVED Birdseye. Could not put it down. Dominique Malherbe Dominique wrote: "Hullo Máire Fisher, I am in the middle of Birdseye and loving it though have to tell you that I jumped to the acknowledgments and say hurrah for you too! Well done !" Jane Hofmeyr I am 49 pages into a beautifully written book by a Cape Town author - Birdseye by Maire Fisher. Has anyone else read it? Highly recommended The kind of book where you want to reread a sentence for the pleasure it gives you. Lynne Boardman Fisher Maire.... I have not read any of your previous books. I read Birdseye and absolutely adored it! It reminded me of a South African "Lovely Bones" It was so exquisite that it took my breath away. Thank you so very much. Lynne xxxx Anthony Ehlers (Freelance writer, +/-30 yrs old) Hi Maire. Finished Birdseye tonight - it was wonderful. I'm going to type up some questions for an e-interview and send these later in the week, if you have time? Well done tho - what a wonderfully immersive story! Rachel Viljoen (Young reader, +/-30 yrs old) Hi Maire! before I could even get a chance to read Birdseye a friend, well actually Gary's Stepmother, saw it in our house and asked to read it. She read it in less than 2 days and loved it.... she said:"Ek het snot en trane gehuil dit is so mooi geskryf" Well done!!! Can't wait to read it! R Carol Legg (Reader, +/-40 yrs old) Máire Fisher, I don't mean to gush but I loved Birdseye so much. I laughed and cried and stayed up all night because I had to find out everything. Can't wait to share it. Flippen hell indeed! Jennifer Strickland (Reader, +/-70 yrs old) Well done Maire Fisher. You really have the Irish way with words. I was so drawn in to Bird's life that I laughed, got angry and eventually wept - something I haven't done for years over a book Thank you! Linsey Hinde Schluter Read Any Good Books Lately? - Book Club Loved Birdseye by Maire Fisher - thanks for the recommendation! Really, really beautiful read. It'll stay with you. Crystal Warren (Librarian NELM) - Good Book Appreciation Society My best book of the year so far is definitely Birdseye by Maire Fisher. It took me longer than usual to finish as I found it emotionally draining and had to stop to cry every few chapters. But so beautiful. The impact on a family of the disappearance of ten-year-old twin brothers, especially seen through the perspective of their youngest sister, who writes to them to keep them alive. It explores issues of loss, of mourning, of dark family secrets - and contains the most dreadful fictional grandmother ever Leanne Maree-Kipling Good Book Appreciation Society Birdseye is set near where I live and I loved reading it. Excellently written in that truly wonderful South African way that makes no excuses for being South African Mandy Metelerkamp Good Book Appreciation Society Birdseye was excellent, thanks Ms Fisher. Spent part of my childhood in Kalk Bay and Muizenberg so can relate. Beautifully written, more please..... Jocelyn Margaret Hers Read any Good Books Lately Birdseye by Maire Fisher. Set in Cape Town, the story of a family ruled by a matriarch, and her black secret. Not at all melodramatic, very gently told and the more powerful for that Antonette Walters Read any Good Books Lately Birdseye -Maire Fisher - excellent! Linda Whitfield Read any Good Books Lately This week-end I completed Birdseye by Maire Fisher. Beautifully written, Birdseye chronicles the passage from childhood to adolescence of Bird ( Amelia). Bird is one of 6 siblings who live on the hill sandwiched between the mountain and the ocean in a Cape seaside town. Their parents exist under the demanding patronage of Bird's maternal grandmother, Ma Bess. Ma Bess lives at the top of the house and controls everything and everyone with an unloving, unkind, and unyielding fist of iron. When Bird's beloved twin brothers, aged 10, disappear, Bird's life is turned upside down and she begins to write to her brothers on a regular basis, hiding the correspondence in an old chest. She confides in the missing brothers the events of day to day life at Marchbank. It is her way of keeping them alive and present. Nothing, however, passes the terrible scrutiny of Ma Bess - she seems to know every thought and every movement of the family living below her rooftop eyrie. Well worth reading- thank you Maire Fisher. Crystal Warren The Secret Book Club Birdseye by Maire Fisher. I cried so much I had to stop reading every few chapters. Also Watership Down and The Book Thief. Many many more- I am a wimp when it comes to books making me cry. Especially if there is loss and grieving Alexia Lawson Dear Maire - I waited to read Bird, waited until a lot of frenetic busyness was done, waited till this weekend. And was, of course, completely blown over. It's so wonderful. I'm filled with admiration and awe. I could not stop reading - had to be dragged to my nephew's 21st - love her, love the story with its perfect balance between pathos and humour, between the big and small issues of life. Can hardly wait for the next one. Love and congratulations, Lexi Pippa Dowding Just gobbled up Birdseye Maire! What a mesmerising style of writing you have. And something so refreshing about the way you wove in South African history. Congratulations and thank you! Email from Tiah Beautement (http://tiahbeautement.bookslive.co.za/about/) Almost caused marital drama last night because I was sucked in and Craig turned out the lights. Not being a kindle book, it is impossible to read in the dark. Also, when I looked at the time and considered what my life has been like and going to be like, I could also concede that sleep probably was for the best. But I was not happy to have my reading cut short. Had he been out of town I'd probably have spent all night to the end. Hi, I finished it last night. You wrote so well. That bit where she is kissing the skulls made me choke up. I hope it sells and sells and sells. Email from new Umuzi author, Fred Strydom I am loving Birdseye. Haven't finished but my wife has, and she adores it. She said she felt incredibly protective of Bird. Great character and beautifully written story. My mother-in-law has now grabbed a copy for herself. Congrats again. Email from Rahla Xenopolous, author of A Memoir of Love and Madness and Bubbles, a fictional account of the life of Bubbles Schroeder Darling I am so madly in love with your book, it’s got Miss Havisham and To Kill a Mockingbird and all sorts of wondrous things, I actually whipped thru it in about 3 days. WHAT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT. WOW! From Nina Geraghty Hello Maire I read your marvellous book yesterday. I mean exactly that. I started it at around midday and finished it last night – simply couldn’t put it down. Wonderful story-telling and was particularly moved (to tears) by the scene of Bird in the funeral parlour with the bones of her brothers. I guess I share Bird’s persistent and insistent need for completion so I understood exactly why she needed to spend time with her brothers’ remains – for that sense of visceral closure - but I’d be interested to know what other readers made of that particular scene. Another reason it resonated so powerfully is that I’m half-japanese and at Japanese funerals, the closest members of family have a ritual of picking out all the bones from the recently cremated remains of their relative with large chopsticks and placing them in the funeral urn. (They start with the feet bones and end with the skull so the person isn’t upside down in the urn) Sometimes a large bone needs to be lifted by two sets of chopsticks and it’s the only time one is allowed to pass an item from one set of chopsticks to another. (That’s why it’s seen as a major faux pas to accept food passed with chopsticks with your own chopsticks while eating.) I also loved the relentless dreadfulness of Ma Bess. Thank you for a memorable read and characters that will stay with me. Warm regards Nina Megan Clausen Just finished this lovely, lyrical read. Beautifully written and tender, this coming-of-age story about a young girl and a family ruled by a formidable grandmother and cleaved by a tragedy, kept me entranced. (I have one question about something that bothered me slightly: why the need to create a fictitious seaside village when the rest of the locations (Cape Town, the SA Library, Simonstown) are real? Why couldn't it have been set in Kalk Bay? If anyone knows, please DM me. Thanks) Nicola Nel Loved it too - searching for more by the same author! Megan Clausen I think it's the only book she's written Paige Nick It's her first. But I hear she's busy with a new one as we speak Megan Clausen and Nicola Nel. I really loved Birdseye. I think the author did an interview on it here, I'll try pull it to the top. Always nice to read after reading the book. Terry Figgins Bought it for book club . Janita Thiele Lawrence This is on my TBR pile! Cathy Park Loved this book! Beautifully written, with such well drawn characters. I quite liked that the setting was in a mythical village - meant I could use my imagination. I find myself looking for Marchbanks on Kalk Bay Mtn, FH Mtn....and picturing Bird there. Natacia Kalyan Beautiful read Siobhan Evans The interview is interesting. Search for it within the group pages. This should explain why she invented the village. Melissa Riordan I so enjoyed this book! The depiction of a family through the eyes of the youngest daughter is completely authentic and the story itself is gripping. Edyth Bulbring 31 May Just finished reading this. Birdseye by Maire Fisher. Three Words: I LOVED IT. A really wonderful book. Ary Rachel Zadok Yes. Yes. Yes. Edyth Bulbring Three words from you too, Ms Rachel! Paige Nick Such a fab book. Emma De Crespigny Agree Jude Inggs Loved it. Linda Whelan Thanks for the reminder. This is one of the books I mentally added to the 'must read' list but forgot about. Fiona Snyckers Isn't it great? Edyth Bulbring Three words.Phrased as a question. Nice, Fi. Melissa Riordan Me too! Diane du Toit It is brilliant. Jane Histed What a fabulous book! One of my first ebooks! Lauren O'Flaherty Butcher Do you know that it was written by Dan's (Ashleigh's boyfriend) mom Jane Histed Yes, I did 😁 Hazel Woodward It was wonderful. (Three words, Edyth) Lizette Lok Also loved it. Paige Nick 17 April I somehow managed to buy this book twice. As an ebook when it first launched and more recently in paperback. I ended up reading the paperback - I barely read ebooks anymore. Birdseye is a sweeping saga. A rich tale of family and loss and growing up, set in a South Africa we aren't proud of. Dark but full of love, and has a lightness of touch. It reminded me very much of a wonderful series of books I once hurtled through by William Kowalski. I look forward to seeing what Maire brings us next. Comments Read SA Bird is one of my all time favourite characters. I loved this book Michael Mtshali I love the book. Jude Inggs I thought it was wonderful. Jude Inggs Funnily enough I bought it for my bookclub twice by mistake. Diane du Toit The most incredible read in a long time Zara Osman Gareth Davies - we need to give this a read! X Nicola Nel Loved it - the ending filled me with sadness.. Sharon Williams boo, I've just looked this up on Amazon UK and we don't have it yet. desperately seeking a new book for tonight! Sharon Williams Disgard that post, I have found it, thank you for the suggestion. Karen McKee I'm doing a workshop with Máire in May and simply have to get my hands on this! Ronélle Hart Jaspan I'm doing the workshop too.. Karen McKee Yay! So we will meet in May! :) Máire Fisher Thank you, dear all. The more people who buy it twice, the better! Paige Nick Máire Fisher - have you read any of the William Kowalski Eddie's Bastard series? Leanne Maree-Kipling I loved Eddies Bastard and Somewhere South of Here. Also loved his Adventures of Flash Jackson. You are right,Máire Fisher's writing does have the same feeling to it as William Kowalski's. Loved Maire's book too! Máire Fisher Paige Nick Hi Paige I read Eddie's Bastard years ago and loved it. Somewhere South of Here, I remember thinking that it felt rushed (two-book deal sort of feeling). I haven't read any others of his, so thanks for the reminder. I'll Kindleise him! Gail Schimmel van Onselen Loved Eddie's Bastard. . .nothing of his (that I have read) quite lived up to it. . Paige Nick Gail Schimmel van Onselen yes, Eddie's Bastard was the best of the lot. Estelle Hester Loved it and it is a hit with my book club - :-) Máire!! Marietjie Steyn I bought it to read on Snapplify Reader, but it is too small to read on my cell phone. My eye sight is failing me, lol! Glad to see it is on Amazon for Kindle, so I can finally read the book about Bird and Ma Bes. (I promised Maire I'll read it even though my mother in law was also called Ma Bes.) :-) Paige Nick Oh dear, I hope your Ma Bes was nothing like Maire's Ma Bess #pieceofwork Ronélle Hart Jaspan I've just started reading it, and it's true, it sweeps you right in. I'm already entranced by Bird, and think that this is probably going to develop into one of those stories which stays and stays with you. I read three pages out loud to my husband last night, and I only ever do that with writing that deeply resonates with me. Thanks Máire. Annette Snyckers I loved Bird and the book! Hilary Asher I cannot wait for the next one Maire---I hope soon? Helen Howes I so loved this book - I read it over 2 days in December and all other books since have been a let down! My colleagues also raved about it and one even went out to buy her own copy after reading our library's one! Louisa Treger I loved loved Máire Fisher's novel! Bird is one of my all-time favourite characters, and the story haunted me for months. Lorraine Robertson van Schalkwyk Thanks for the suggestion. I also have Eddies Bastard on my bookshelf. Can't say with certainty I remember it well. But it's probably a good ten years ago since I read it... Ronélle Hart Jaspan Birdseye view. Thanks Máire for a beautiful book Hazel Woodward Thoroughly enjoyed your book, Máire Fisher (though I have to guiltily admit I took it out the library rather than buying the obligatory two copies). What a wicked woman you conjured up! Wow! She reminded me a little of some of LM Montgomery's embittered old ladies but without any of her characters' hidden redeeming features. It was definitely a page-turner and unputdownable. I liked Amelia's outburst in the car which caused her and Rafi to become friends - a lovely confession which one would have HOPED and WISHED as a teenager to have the emotional depth to express so accurately. I would have liked to learn if Great Aunt Kitty was still alive! Máire Fisher Thanks so much, Hazel. I'm delighted that you got it from the library. Wouldn't it be fab if every library in SA bought one or two copies of all SA writers' book?! Mack Lundy 16 January Just finished Máire Fisher's, Birdseye. It is an excellent read and gave me both a character I'd most like to be related to,Bird, and one I'm glad I'm not related to, the vile and wretched Ma Bess. Máire does a wonderful job of capturing the viewpoint of a young girl from age 6 to 16, often quite funny. The back cover promised family secrets but I didn't expect the turn it took. If you haven't read it, you should. Comments Gail Schimmel van Onselen It's a magnificent book. Jude Inggs I agree. Liked it very much Beautifully written. Fiona Snyckers Such a good book! Nicola Nel Loved it. And cried a bit too. Mack Lundy I suspect my eyes started leaking at the same spot as yours, Nicola. Ana Ferreira Nice review - makes me want to read it. Tnx 😏 Mack Lundy I recommend it, Ana. I love the voice that the author gives Bird. Lu-Anne Warner Excellent read, Máire Fisher well done! Linda Whitfield Loved it and agree about the vile Ma Bess..... She controlled everything from the top of the house......ranks as one of the most awful characters in a novel ....... Up there with the the ghastly Ursula Monkton from Gaiman's Ocean at the End of the Lane and a few others! Marietjie Steyn I started reading it but my mother in law was called Ma Bess so I stopped. The resemblance was just too much... LOL! Máire Fisher Thanks, all! Sorry about your mom-in-law, Marietjie :) Marietjie Steyn LOL! I'll give it another try. 😀 Paul Doolan Double like that's my sis Estelle Hester I pictured the house and setting so well. I love Kalkbay Harbour and often visited a friend who inherited her mom`s big Victorian house in Simonstown. So I revelled in the setting. The mom was a difficult woman, a bit like Ma Bess. Characters were so well portrayed, story gripping - loved it Mandy Metelerkamp I really enjoyed this book, thanks Máire Fisher. I grew up in Kalk Bay, Lakeside and Muizenberg so could relate to the setting. Beautifully written, wonderful characters - waiting patiently for your next book.... no pressure!! Mary Birt i HAVE read it, and loved it, and bought it for my book club, and they all loved it.... come on Maire... when are we going to see another?! Read SA Bird is one of my all time favourite characters. Mack Lundy Mine too. I'd love to read about a grown up Bird. Mack Lundy So where do we see Bird in 10 years? Obviously she has to write but anything else? I think she could end up in the police service -- her ability to observe, listen, record; her respect for Detective Ace. And she could still write. Amanda Foster Maire, I hope there will be a new book from you in 2016 ! Máire Fisher Getting there, Amanda! Amanda Foster Yippee ! Can't wait. 😄 Kay Crone Ooh, yay! Hope we can get this one in the uk!! 2015 Crystal Warren 2 March 2015 · Grahamstown My best book of the year so far is definitely Birdseye by Maire Fisher. It took me longer than usual to finish as I found it emotionally draining and had to stop to cry every few chapters. But so beautiful. The impact on a family of the disappearance of ten-year-old twin brothers, especially seen through the perspective of their youngest sister, who writes to them to keep them alive. It explores issues of loss, of mourning, of dark family secrets - and contains the most dreadful fictional grandmother ever! Comments Amanda Foster Totally totally totally agree ! Can't wait for her next book Ruth Carneson Also loved Birdseye Julia Fraser Brilliant review. I agree with every word! Jenny Hatton Thanks for the recommendation - a really lovely read. Linda Whelan It's now added to my 'to read' list. Great review! 2014 Marius Du Plessis 6 October 2014 · Milnerton I would just like to pop in and ask whether you all have read Birdseye by Máire Fisher because it is a masterpiece and I loved it so much I'm not even using commas here I loved it so much! Laureen Bertin Celeste do you still have the book? Maybe could borrow if you do> Celeste Pinkerton Oh no darling. It's on my Kindle. 😒gry Wendy Smyth Absolutely loved every word Jennifer Strickland AGREE Amanda Foster 19 August 2014 · Cape Town Thank you Maire Fisher for Birdseye. I absolutely loved it ! Enjoyed the characters so much ... Am sad now it is finished. Comments Amanda Foster Ps. And the ending was genius ! 😄 Gail Schimmel van Onselen I 've given in and started it and now my own writing will just have to wait. . Wendy Smyth 16 August 2014 Began The Birdseye by Maire Fisher today. Am engrossed. Comments Amanda Foster Me too ! Am loving it Marcia DaBossmama Love About to start the new Elizabeth Pisani, then this is next Gail Schimmel van Onselen Just got it from bookclub. Too scared to start in case I can't stop. Wendy Smyth Gail you will not be able to contain yourself Wendy Smyth I absolutely cannot put this down. Brank Doolan It was a great read. Jennifer Strickland Another new author to look out for! Thanks Jonathan Jono Amid 3 August 2014 For those that loved The Spiral House and Atonement, make a point of reading Maire Fisher's Birdseye before the hype-machine starts rolling. It's a shape-shifting, lucidly compelling and finely embroidered novel offering one of the most finely sketched protagonists you could ask for. I balk at revealing ANY plot spoilers, but it is a family saga, bildungsroman and detective story all in one, and it comes off beautifully. Umuzi never fails! Paula Gruben Tantalising review!! Thank you. *adds to To Read list* Marius Du Plessis Next on my list! I'm so excited to get going with it. Jenni Case Got it! Thanks! Wendy Smyth Just bought a copy from exclusives along with We are all completely beside Ourselves by Karen joy fowler. Have heard it's brilliant Wendy Smyth Thanks for the review. Love this group Colleen Higgs Can't wait to read it and the review makes me even more impatient, wasn't in at Book Lounge yet when I went in on Tuesday. Cathy Park to Máire Fisher 19 July at 14:10 · So Birdseye has moved from my bedside table to my Favourite Books shelf, and Bird remains in my heart. Thanks Máire for a beautiful book. Chantal Smuts to Máire Fisher 9 July at 15:53 · Cape Town · Dear Mairé, As promised, my Birdseye review (finished it weeks ago). Beautifully written with wonderful characters and a fascinating storyline: Check. Tragic, funny and hugely imaginative: Check. Bereft when I finished it: Check. Still thinking about it: Check. Missing Bird and her world: Check. Want all my book club girls to read it but my signed copy is too precious to risk dog-chewing and being dropped in the bath so I'll have to buy another one: Check. Can't wait for your next one: Check! I ADORED it. You are trés talented and I wish for you literary fame and glory. Chantal XXX Comments Máire Fisher Dear Chantal Deeply thrilled to have written a book that readers have loved: check. So grateful that they take the time and trouble to tell me so: check. Even more grateful that said telling happens on my Facebook page: check. Somewhat filled with trepidation about getting to the finishing line with book two: check. From-your-mouth-to-God’s-ear-ing re literary fame and glory: To quote Bird: Flipping hell and a very definite check! Thank you so much, dear friend! Máirexx Nella Freund I totally agree😀 Máire Fisher Thanks Nella Bella! Elizabeth Hope Just read Birdseye a,second time.....even better than the first time!!!!! A riveting story just loved Bird.....well done cant wait for the next book xx Máire Fisher That's so good to hear, Elizabeth! A selection of Comments from Read any Good Books Lately, a Facebook bookclub page with 14,755 members Jo Michie 26 June · Beijing, China Someone in this group recommended 'Birdseye' by Maire Fisher a few weeks ago - who ever you were, THANK YOU!!! It is ages since I read a book with a main character who will live with me for years. Bird is fantastic, and the whole book is an exceptionally good read. SA really has some cracking new authors. If you haven't read it yet, put it at the top of your list. Comments Ruth Swanson On The List! Linda Whitfield It is excellent ....... Well worth reading Delia Charton Nee Beck Thanks, Jo! You're always a good source of reference for me! Penny Marek A lovely review Jo Michie - I am sure Máire Fisher will enjoy reading this. Máire Fisher Thank you so much, Jo. Bird has made her way to quite a few places, but this is the first I have heard of her flying all the way to China! And, once again, Penny, thanks for alerting me to readers who love Bird - it's heart-warming to read reviews like this! Jo Michie Ni hao (Chinese for hello!) Máire Fisher - I am so chuffed to get a message from the author of such a wonderful book! I have already sent copies to my mom (aged 96) and another to friend as a birthday gift. One thing about the book was that all through it I kept wondering where Harbiton was - not Fish Hoek (where I lived from 9-11yrs) not Kalk Bay, not Muizenberg... obviously I realised it was a fictional location, but in my mind I kept trying to place it....which was stupid of me but I couldn't help doing it. Having said that, I was totally absorbed with Bird and her whole family situation. I plan to give copies to some Chinese friends, they find it hard to get their minds around the fact that there are WHITE South Africans! I have some very funny conversations with taxi drivers when they ask me where I am from and I say South Africa!..bless them, they are prepared to be enlightened, and they have all heard of Nelson Mandela! Zai jian (goodbye) Jo. Máire Fisher Hi again, Jo! You're right; Harbiton is a fictional squish of those three places (esp Fish Hoek and Kalk Bay). I'm equally chuffed to met someone who's sending Bird yet further afield! Sineid Mary Matthews Loved it! Gillian Anne Norgarb Will definitely read it on your recommendation! Xx Tessa Epstein Just finished reading it and loved the book excellent read Carol-Ann Riedt 26 May · Birdseye - by Máire Fisher . I could not stop turning pages. An incredible story, filled with surprises and twists that are handled superbly. A really really good read. Thanks Maire! Mary Samways Sounds interesting. On my wish list now. 🙂 Penny Marek This has proved a very, very popular book. It has had loads of favourable reviews. Highly recommended. Linda Whitfield I loved it...... Thought that the grandmother rivaled Ursula In The Ocean at the End of the Lane for toxicity........great read Máire Fisher So glad you enjoyed Bird, Carol! Suzanne Brooke Anderson I just loooved it...brilliant Judith Stainforth I can't find it on Amazon ??? Arlene Emmenes Oh my word ................ thanks for the nudge - I purchased this book in August 2015 and it is there waiting to be read. :) Brenda Bryden A brilliant read. Bee Strydom Also enjoyed it a lot! Lorraine Ross Loved, loved, loved it......where's the next one Máire Fisher? Terese Le Merle Walther Loved it, excellent read Suzanne Brooke Anderson 10 April I read a wonderful book recently...Birdseye by South African writer Maire Fisher. The story of a family is told through the eyes of the youngest of 6 children....enthralling and such clever construction. It reduced me to tears very near the end.....but it is also filled with humour among the drama...I loved it, could not put it down. Comments Jo Michie Thanks for the heads up - I now plan to get and read the book! Sandy Schmidt Hazell I also really enjoyed the story Linda Whitfield I thought the grandmother upstairs so formidable....... This malignant presence controlling all from above...... Such a strong depiction of toxicity Terese Le Merle Walther So enjoyed this book Fiona Couldridge It's beautiful! Penny Marek Máire Fisher - you might be interested to read these great comments about Birdseye! Máire Fisher Thanks so much for the heads-up, Penny, and many, many thanks for the kind comments here! I can't tell you how much they mean to me :) Linda Bethlehem Waiting for your next book..... Christine Muller Coates My book club is loving it too! Lorraine Ross A most memorable book for me - loved it. Joyce Mays Next up! Antonette Walters 17 August 2015 Birdseye -Maire Fisher - excellent! Linda Whitfield I loved it too Kathleen Mary LOVE the cover!!! Aleida Diaz What's it about? Sarah Broadbent If they have a blurb on the back cover, can you take a pic of that, please? That's my lazy way of saying what the book is about without going into massive detail and risking spoilers. Penny Marek Waiting in line, but only heard wonderful reviews! Lorraine Ross Wonderful book. Arlene Emmenes Loved the synopsis .... so guess what ....yep ....on my TBR list!! Thanks Antonette Walters.gry Patricia Mary Hewitson Looks like a good one and from a Fish Hoek meisie! Fiona Couldridge Good read. Linda Whitfield 9 March 2015 This week-end I completed Birdseye by Maire Fisher. Beautifully written, Birdseye chronicles the passage from childhood to adolescence of Bird ( Amelia). Bird is one of 6 siblings who live on the hill sandwiched between the mountain and the ocean in a Cape seaside town. Their parents exist under the demanding patronage of Bird's maternal grandmother, Ma Bess. Ma Bess lives at the top of the house and controls everything and everyone with an unloving, unkind, and unyielding fist of iron. When Bird's beloved twin brothers, aged 10, disappear, Bird's life is turned upside down and she begins to write to her brothers on a regular basis, hiding the correspondence in an old chest. She confides in the missing brothers the events of day to day life at Marchbank. It is her way of keeping them alive and present. Nothing, however, passes the terrible scrutiny of Ma Bess - she seems to know every thought and every movement of the family living below her rooftop eyrie. Well worth reading- thank you Maire Fisher. Penny Whyte Sounds wonderful Lorraine Ross It is truly a memorable tale. I loved it. Give us more Máire Fisher! Crystal Warren 2 March 2015 · Grahamstown My best book of the year so far is definitely Birdseye by Maire Fisher. It took me longer than usual to finish as I found it emotionally draining and had to stop to cry every few chapters. But so beautiful. The impact on a family of the disappearance of ten-year-old twin brothers, especially seen through the perspective of their youngest sister, who writes to them to keep them alive. It explores issues of loss, of mourning, of dark family secrets - and contains the most dreadful fictional grandmother ever! Comments Sandra Williams Another book to go on my list then!!! Rinette Lollie Verster I also read it and loved it. Lynne Meinstein Mausenbaum Agreed- absolutely loved this book. Judy Berthold Patterson Thanks, I'm just about to start reading it :) Suzanne Brooke Anderson It's the grandmother that has me tempted....do I download or not? Marle Louw Thanks Fiona Couldridge Thanks for the recommendation. Good book. Melinda Petersen 8 February 2015 · I should read more SA authors! Birdseye by Maire Fisher had me hooked till the very end. Review to come soon :) Gabi Blight It was wonderful, wasn't it? And that was her first book.. hopefully she will just get better and better. Melinda Petersen Yes the story pulls you in. And that grandmother - what a despicable woman Yolande Botha Oh I loved Birdseye! Hope there are more books from Marié Fisher soon! Lorraine Ross A really memorable tale and I loved the familiar landmarks in the book. Haven't been a great SA author fan but will be looking out for Maire Fisher's next offering. Linda Bethlehem 21 December 2014 Just finished Birdseye by Maire Fisher. Absolutely marvellous book. I am going to miss Bird...... We have another fantastic Author in South Africa. Looking forward to the next book Maire Fisher. Comments Linda Whitfield Onto the TBR list it goes! Lovely when members review books written by fellow RAGBL members! Yolande Botha I absolutely loved this book! Penny Marek I can't wait to read it - I need some quiet time! Lynne Meinstein Mausenbaum 14 December 2014 · Johannesburg I just finished Birdseye by Maire Fisher. A beautifully written story of a family in Cape Town. Highly recommended. Penny Marek I'm looking forward to this - on my pile of SA reads! Madeline Reilly Bezuidenhout I have it on my kindle Sharon Reuben Thanks for the recommendation! My reading list is growing by the day!! Melanie Ziervogel Thanks for the feed back, going to look it up on amazon Jane Hofmeyr 22 October 2014 I am 49 pages into a beautifully written book by a Cape Town author -Birdseye by Maire Fisher. Has anyone else read it? Highly recommended The kind of book where you want to reread a sentence for the pleasure it gives you. Comments Rebecca Wilson Parry Wow, Jane - sounds great - I'll have to read it Verena Maclean Olivier Maire is a wonderful wise person whose love of reading and writing is beyond measure - I can't wait to read it Nella Freund I loved Birdseye Christine Muller Coates My favourite SA read this year! Annette Snyckers I loved Birdseye. Mandy Metelerkamp Very much enjoyed Birdseye! Tanya Carter What a wonderful thing to say about a book!! I've just bought it and can't wait to get started! Thank you for the recommendation :-) Helena Scheibe I am getting Birdseye very soon. Tiah Beautement Fan of Birdseye, here. Terese Le Merle Walther 14 September 2014 · Cape Town Just finished reading 'Birdseye' ,South African author. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Going to read 'Sex Lives of Siamese Twins. Anyone read this? Linsey Hinde Schluter Loved Birdseye by Maire Fisher - thanks for the recommendation! Really, really beautiful read. It'll stay with you. Kathe Dimeo Coleman Yes also on my tbr Mandy Metelerkamp Have just read a review and it sounds good, worth reading? Linsey Hinde Schluter Very much so Mandy Metelerkamp ! Christine Muller Coates Yes, I've read it as well as a few of my friends. It's a lovely, delightful, beautiful story. Penny Marek Christine, It's had wonderful reviews. Christine Muller Coates 9 August 2014 Don't miss Máire Fisher's Birdseye! It's in the book shops although the launch is on Thursday. Your book clubs will love it. Christine Muller Coates It's a fabulous read. Set in the Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek area. Penny Marek I've heard it is a wonderful read Christine. Christine Muller Coates It going to be a favourite of this year's crop! Colleen Higgs Is at the Book Lounge yet? Might pop in if it is ...
INTERVIEWS
More! (Including feedback from people who have been personally affected by The Enumerations) The Enumerations is dedicated to Hannah and her mother Colleen. This review is from Hannah’s father who lived through OCD with his daughter before she went into a clinic in Germany Máire Fisher's book, The Enumerations is not only an excellently and detailed description of the suffering of those with OCD, it is also a very good read in general. Mental health issues are stigmatized, often taboo. This book brings insight, awareness and understanding of battles many face. The portrayal of the OCD affliction, how it controls, and ultimately needs to be controlled, is exactly as I came to know it, as the father of Hannah (whose experience influenced Noah's character, and has unwittingly, ultimately been precisely depicted by Máire). We, Colleen and I and other family members and friends, spent hours sitting with her, trying to counsel her, sometimes physically holding her hand to stop slamming the tap, open-closed-open-closed (which caused a water-hammer noise through the whole house, making it inescapable for anyone, at all hours of the day), or pushing her through a door frame, or steering her past a drain cover, rationalizing with her on the absurdity of the monster in her head (which, luckily, with her willingness to clutch at straws, helped her fight it back, tell it how silly it was), that it was not her responsibility to have to keep us, or the world, safe by appeasing the monster, and ultimately accepting that she needed to go into the residential clinic. There, we were lucky that, with the support of her group, her therapy managed to teach her the tools to recognize and confront (after traumatic immersion sessions) the monster and put it back in its box (it is always there, we all have them, just most of us manage to control it without having to experience it so intensely). We are just so deeply grateful that Hannah came through it so that she can lead a full normal life. Her monsters are still there, sometimes trying to make an escape, but she has learnt how to beat them! Noah's story will give courage and insight to others battling similar issues. I sincerely recommend reading this book to anyone, not only those that have contact or knowledge with OCD, but also as an interesting, sometimes humorous (Juliet is great!), emotional story. To those without exposure to OCD, some passages may seem long, repetitive, labouring, but that is part of OCD, it just is. This would make a great film ! (her daughter battles OCD) This review is from Fiona Fewell, a mother whose daughter battles OCD I read The Enumerations by Máire Fisher and experienced so many emotions from the beginning to the end. Somewhere into it, I had to put the book down as the impact of the story was so intense that I could not continue reading. It took me a few days to pick it up again. When I did, I didn’t put it down. As fiction, it is a beautiful story, which has left me with both hope and gratitude. I was convinced that the author had personal or medical experience of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) because she so accurately describes not just the turmoil that goes on in the brain and body of someone suffering OCD, but the impact it has on anyone in close proximity, too. I felt that she understood, at a granular level, just how devastating it can be, but equally, how joyful even the smallest wins often are. OCD sufferers are masters of presentation and it can be truly difficult to see beyond their mask unless you live in continuous close proximity to them. I think trying to explain to someone what goes on in their head is almost impossible for an OCD-sufferer to do, so they hide behind the mask for as long as possible, and release all the energy that builds up when in the privacy of their own home. The release is like a flash-flood that takes over everything in its wake. The author captures this so well, and tells the story of mental health in a way that builds understanding, compassion and generosity. While reading it, I just wanted everyone to be reading it, too. I still do. From Mack Lundy – An American reader on Good Book Appreciation Society – also posted on GoodReads. It took me nearly three times longer than usual for a book this length to read Máire Fisher's, The Enumerations. This wasn't due to the quality of the writing or lack of interest but because I needed to put the book down frequently to reflect on what I had just read. Marie's book is a sensitive and compassionate exploration of an adolescent boy, Noah Groome, who has a crippling case of obsessive compulsive disorder. Noah's OCD is manifested by his certainty that the only thing keeping himself and his family safe are the 5s. He also needs absolute order including a minute-by-minute schedule of his day including details such as allocating to the second low long to brush his teeth. Doing things in 5s and finding patterns of 5s is Noah's shield against the Dark. The Dark becomes another character in the story. The author shows how unimaginably tough this level of OCD is on the person and on the people around them. As I read, two threads kept running through my head: what if it were me; and what if it was someone in my family, how would I respond to them, would I be patient and understanding, or would I be impatient and push them away. Noah has an encounter with the school bully that turns violent. The parents of the bully see their son as the victim and demand that something be done about the "danger" posed by Noah. Noah is the real victim but is incapable of defending himself. To get Noah out of this hostile environment, he is sent to a residential treatment centre, Greenhills. Noah's treatment plan at Greenhills is interesting and a combination of group, personal counseling, setting goals, journaling. Juliet, a member of Noah's group therapy session takes a particular interest in Noah, taking him under her tutelage and coaching how to appear to do what is asked of him. Nonetheless, we do see little changes in Noah's behavior. Juliet is the opposite of Noah, talking continuously while Noah says and reveals little. We meet other adolescents at the treatment which contribute to our understanding of the the issues that these young people are facing. Juliet is the only one we get to know well but I wanted to know more about other members of Noah's group therapy session who have interesting back stories. Writing a book like The Enumerations must require a delicate balance. The author isn't just making up a story but is building that story on something very real. The need to write a compelling story has to be balanced against the need for accuracy in the subject matter and respect for people suffering from the condition and their families. The story rings true and Máire is able to show us the working of a treatment centre for troubled adolescents within a story of people you come to like and perhaps related to. I got an interesting insight into an author's creative process when I corresponded with her and she responded: "I didn’t deliberately set out to write about OCD, but once the subject presented itself, and once I ventured inside Noah’s head to see what it might be like to be him (or get as close to knowing as I could), I knew the onus was on me to research him as deeply as I could. That in itself was a mountain to climb, needing several stops along the way." One thing the author does not do is treat Noah's condition as something humorous like we saw in the TV show, Monk. Máire, as much as is possible, helped me see the world through Noah's eyes. The story switches between Noah trying to adapt to his treatment program and his parents and sister trying to cope. The mother is falling apart; the father remote, disengaged, and incapable of even looking his son in the eye; and the little sister who fiercely defends Noah and is actually the strongest member of the family. There is also a plot-line threading through the narratives of Noah and his family that I can't go into without spoiling but it actually pulls everything together in the end. I had to think about how Máire ends The Enumerations and several ways to approach the ending went through my mind. First, and this is due to my immediate reaction, is that the author was going for an intense emotional reaction from the reader. While the ending does evoke an emotional response there is more to it than that. She doesn't wrap the story up into a neat package which would be dishonest to what we've seen. We do see the potential for hope and change but we still know that the characters have a long way to go and serious mental and emotional barriers to get past. There isn't going to be a group hug that sets everything right. I also thought that there is a strong young adult story type of ending. I don't want to say why because it would be a spoiler. Using the term young adult isn't meant to be pejorative, by the way, it's just that I saw some YA elements there. The author confirmed that she "reverted to a fairly classic young adult ending." Actually there is another YA flavored scene that I really enjoyed. This is one of my favorite reads so far this year and likely will remain high on my list. The Enumerations has fascinating and compelling story with characters you come to care about and episodes that may leave you righteously angry. I don't think it possible not to empathize with the people in the story. It is set in South Africa but other than a few small references you probably won't notice. Highly recommended. Transcript of interview with Jono Amid for Die Beeld Roman met kodes vir elkeen Fisher's prose debut, Birdseye, really impressed me. The author achieved something quite unusual in that an intimate family saga had an added unexpected minor note in the form of a shocking crime story to the whole. Birdseye particularly touched upon the mastery of perspective and capturing the voice of an adolescent female protagonist as the chambers of the heart are visited one by one. Fisher has also made a name for herself as a writer who handles color and detail with care. So when I started tackling The Enumerations, my expectations were quite high – how wonderful to be able to state unequivocally that the second jump is more sophisticated, more complex and more satisfying! As with Birdseye, the emphasis is on character. Noah Groome is 17, witty, sensitive, handsome and reserved. Noah has obsessive-compulsive neurosis (OCD). Why is Noah hunted by his OCD, by "The Dark"? Will he ever be able to live less anxiously? How do Noah's experiences affect his family, such as his protective sister, Maddie, his mother, Kate, who does her best to take care of her son, and his aloof father, Dominic? The number five becomes a type of sword and shield against the complexity of a world, outside and inside, which every moment threatens to engulf Noah like the Great Flood. Everything has meaning, holds secrets and codes to be deciphered. Like Noah, Noah must listen to the voices that speak to him and he becomes the pivot of events far greater than just himself. Speaking of biblical intertextuality: the way in which the author colors the story of Noah with various data and direct references to the Bible makes reading this book worthwhile in itself. One apt example is how Noah always carries five pebbles around with him to rub when he gets anxious. Then Noah thinks of David and Goliath; good conquering evil. An incident at Noah's school becomes a door to open trauma and loss in a profound way. Admittedly, there is an abundance of texts, fiction and non-fiction, each reflecting on trauma, impermanence, psychic injury and physical violence. The Enumerations – the perfect title for a novel that will offer each reader its own code and message and is in many ways a Great Novel – is distinguished by focusing specifically on the different ways in which trauma is hidden and hedged in or treated. What stands out throughout is the attention to structure, outstanding characterization, sustained humanity and a storytelling technique in which each chapter is presented in short, visual snippets. ■ Jonathan Amid is a freelance critic from Stellenbosch. The enumerations by Máire Fisher: reader impression (LitNet) Barend van der MerweBooks and writers2018-11-28 This reader impression was written and sent to LitNet on the writer's own initiative. It is always a gamble to pick up a book written by an author whose work one is unfamiliar with. But it is a risk worth taking. Such was the case when I set out to read The enumerations by South African author Máire Fisher. The enumerations is not Fisher’s debut, as this book was preceded by a book called Birdseye, which I have not read. The enumerations can be described as a psychological drama, and tackles the issue of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The enumerations explores the family Groome’s experiences of their son, Noah, who suffers from OCD. The family resides in Cape Town and their lives are consumed by Noah’s disorder. In fact, their lives revolve around Noah and OCD. What do I know about OCD? I ask myself. What do I really know? Not much, as I have never been exposed to it. I can remember many years ago, there used to be an American television series called Monk, which I used to watch with my family. The main protagonist in this show was a detective by the name of Adrian Monk (portrayed by Tony Shalhoub), and this character suffered from OCD. For the purposes of the TV show, the idea was to find Mr Monk’s obsessive compulsive disorder funny. Mr Monk was always rearranging everything. Everything simply had to be perfect. However, Fisher’s novel presents one with a far less romantic picture of OCD. It is a quite disruptive disorder that can have serious consequences for families. It is often this way with psychological or physical disorders, that many people’s first exposure to them comes through television, which might not always be a healthy presentation of the realities. From the outset, Fisher is weaving different stories into one, but it takes quite some time before the link between the stories becomes clear. The bulk of the text in the novel, however, focuses on the Groome family, with Noah very early on running into trouble with his peers at school. Noah’s sister, Maddie, has learned to love Noah for who he is. She understands him like few others. And she is always ready to defend him against the constant bullying that he has to endure at school. When Noah is forced to leave home, Maddie finds herself not used to not having Noah as the centre of attention in the Groome household, and having to readjust to this proves a challenge. This is in stark contrast to Noah and Maddie’s father, Dominic, who becomes more and more withdrawn as the story unfolds, but seems to prefer Noah’s absence in the family. Noah’s strange ways also never go down well with his peers, and he ends up in a dispute with a classmate. Through the process of mediation, the Groome family agrees to find expert help for Noah. In this way, Noah soon finds himself at an institution called Greenhills, a place for children with special needs, where he undergoes therapy for his OCD. The story of The enumerations is basically the story of Noah’s time spent at Greenhills, where he has to learn to let go of his obsession to control everything that is happening around him. Disgruntled with her husband Dominic’s reaction to their son Noah’s OCD, Kate constantly tries to hold the family together, but this proves to be a real challenge. She ends up visiting Noah alone with Maddie at Greenhills, where she has serious doubts about her relationship with Dominic. For Noah, however, Greenhills slowly but surely proves to be a blessing that no one would ever have been able to foresee. Despite Noah’s constant longing to be released from Greenhills, the experiences he has and the friends he makes eventually have a lasting impact on him and change him for the better. At times, the pace of this novel might come across as too slow; however, the moment that the different stories start to gel, The enumerations quickly becomes a real page-turner, with a surprising twist at the end. This is a wonderful book that sensitised me a great deal to the issue of OCD. Some of the characters, in particular that of Dominic, at times come across as lacking in nuance, but as the novel progresses, especially towards the end, a more comprehensive picture of Dominic emerges. The unusual subject matter of The enumerations – that of a young man suffering from OCD and his family’s experiences thereof – makes for a wonderful theme for this novel. The enumerations is certainly a novel that I recommend to anyone, especially anyone with an interest in psychology and the issue of OCD. It is clear that a lot of research went into writing this novel, and the result is a book that not only entertains, but also educates. The enumerations by Máire Fisher: a book review (LitNet) Karabo Kgoleng Noah Groome is a teenage boy with obsessive-compulsive disorder. He comes from a well-to-do family in Cape Town. His father is a successful economist and his mother is a busy home executive. He has a close relationship with his sister Maddie. He has always been an unusual child, with a special affinity with the number five. After experiencing a hijacking outside their home, Noah’s OCD goes into overdrive. He is drowning in guilt, as he feels that he failed to protect his family. He begins to obsess over what clothes to wear (a particular make), which colours are safe (blue, only blue) and which ones to avoid (red and black), and every single minute of his day has to be accounted for. He has colour-coded timetables, and counts his steps in groups of five, counts using each finger, sometimes whispering the numbers, and keeps five pebbles in his pockets. Noah is a prisoner of his mind. Socially, school has never been particularly easy for Noah, but he performed quite well academically until his condition took over his life, and it is now virtually impossible for him to be productive; he struggles even to get to class on time, because if he doesn’t do things exactly in the way that he needs to, he has to start all over again, checking, counting and checking again. This makes him a target for bullies as OCD manifests in behaviour that is out of the ordinary. One of the main school bullies picks on him, and Noah breaks his arm. The parents of Kyle, the bully, launch an offensive, and the school, in a bid to keep peace and possibly to protect its reputation, strongly advises Noah’s parents to look into putting him into some kind of rehabilitative care. This leads to his institutionalisation at Greenhills, a psychiatric home that has a special wing for adolescents. Without Noah at home, his mother, Kate, is feeling lost and as if she has failed her son. The family had had to make many allowances for Noah’s condition. It had reached a point where he couldn’t eat with them, because it violated the order that the ruler of his brain insisted on. A violation of order would result in untold horror and pain for his family, the ruler said, so order was a form of protection. Noah’s behaviour has also alienated his father, Dominic, who doesn’t seem (or want) to understand his son’s pain. Noah’s obsession with his family tree began before his stay at Greenhills. He has managed to trace his maternal roots to the Huguenots, but his father is not forthcoming. There are no parents, no siblings – nobody. This causes Noah a lot of discomfort. It is not just about there being order, but knowing his roots would also provide him with a greater sense of belonging. One of the patients at the facility is a schoolmate, Juliet, who is notorious for her perceived sexual precociousness. This is not her first stay at Greenhills. Her father is verbally and psychologically abusive towards her mother, who turns to alcohol to numb the pain. Juliet is very talkative and won’t leave Noah alone, although she doesn’t pester him in a sexual manner. It is not clear why she is so demanding of his attention, but not only does she prove to be an ally and unlikely friend, but their relationship also contributes to both of them finding a path to healing. In The enumerations, Máire Fisher uses story to draw the reader into thinking about mental illness in a holistic way. Mental illness is especially sensitive to psychosocial dynamics. Fissures in the family, bullying and the violence to which many are exposed in South African society are powerful triggers. Mental illness affects the family unit because the patient’s suffering brings up complex emotions – parental guilt and sibling protection, among others. In Noah’s case, it presents a real threat to Kate and Dominic’s marriage. Fisher also criticises the cruelty with which particularly middle class suburban mothers treat each other. The tribe of tiger moms can be vicious and exclusionary, and the mothers to two schoolmates at Greenhills are targeted for their children’s behaviour. The double standards of prestigious schools when dealing with bullying are also exposed. In the pristine suburbs, there is also pain that hides behind the facade of respectability. The enumerations is written in the third person, observing how the protagonist and the people around him evolve or deteriorate as the plot progresses. It is a story that is written in a gentle manner, even though the viciousness of Noah’s OCD is striking. It is a story about relationships, and how toxic ones can break the mind and spirit, while safe, nurturing relationships can offer healing. The plot is well structured, and Fisher also manages to run a parallel plot in a different time to the central story. The two come together as part of the climax, leading to the resolution. The ending may be a bit on the tidy side (no spoilers!), but it is not unrealistic about mental illness as a condition that needs constant monitoring and support. This is a triumphant, hopeful work of fiction, and Fisher deserves commendation for writing about such a difficult, stigmatised topic in a creative and gripping way.
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ABOUT WRITING
Why is it important to teach creative writing? An Interview with Kerry Hammerton Rather than using the word ‘teach’ I see myself as someone who facilitates writing, provides a space where writers feel safe. I firmly believe that new writing is tender writing. Words that have just hit the paper aren’t robust enough to stand up to scrutiny or critique. There’s plenty of time for that later, when you take your writing home and add to it, scratch out what doesn’t work, let it rest, come back to it again (and, if you’re anything like me, again and again). So it’s very important that the environment in the workshops is non-judgemental. Having said that (and having now stepped down from one of my pet hobby horses), I think it’s important and very rewarding to facilitate creative writing, to create a space where people can write without fear or worry. I have heard so many people arrive at our workshops saying, ‘Oh, I can't write’, or ‘I'm not a writer’, or ‘I'm scared of writing’, or ‘I wish I could write’. I love seeing the same people surprised, excited, delighted, elated, tearful or shaken by the words that have come from their pens. So, yes, there are many people who can write and yet they are sceptical and fearful, reluctant to try. In the space of a morning, given the right space and care, those writers can produce work that shows them the value of taking that first step: putting pen to paper, and then chasing their pens to see what happens next. How did you get into teaching creative writing? Well, to start with, I had the absolute privilege and joy of being introduced to Anne Schuster’s creative writing courses. My friend, Tracey Farren, told me about them and I could have kicked myself for not listening to her earlier. Anne was a gifted and compassionate writer and I couldn't believe how liberating her workshops were, how stories just seemed to be waiting to be written. It all sounds very away-with-the -pixies, but anyone who has entered that freewriting zone can tell you that’s what happens! I arrived at her workshop, not knowing what to expect, very nervous and very much ready to follow the rules (see a freewrite I did on this, below!). What I soon discovered, after hearing others read out what they had written, was that apart from following the one basic rule of freewriting, which is to keep your pen moving, even if you think you are writing the world’s worst junk, is that there are no rules. Freewriting has the power to block out the inner critic, that voice inside your head that says, ‘You're hopeless’, ‘Don’t give up your day job’, ‘Why are you even trying this?’ It lets you chase after that first thought as it arrives and see where it leads. All you have to do is keep writing, as fast as you can, without worrying about anything except getting the words down. At the same time as I was doing Anne's courses my sons were in primary school and I noticed that they were doing very little in the way of creative writing. It didn’t seem to be catered for in the new OBE syllabus. I approached the school and asked if I could give workshops. I didn't charge for this; I simply wanted to create a space where children could write for the joy of it, without fear of being corrected. Eventually I ran full-day creative writing marathons, where anyone from any grade could come and write, and stay for as long as they wanted. Often the ten-year-olds out lasted the older students. The only condition I attached to attendance was one for the teachers: the writing the students produced would not be graded. I didn't mind it being edited by those young writers, but the last thing I wanted was to have a child told that a story was worth 5 out of 10, that a poem had been graded according to a rubric. At the same time, I ran creative writing workshops at the local library – also on a voluntary basis. Anything to provide a space where children could write till their hands hurt and their hearts sang. Word spread and I was asked to give creative writing workshops at other schools. So, that was the beginning. Chantal Stewart and I now take it in turns to run monthly workshops for adults – a most rewarding job. We have a great mix of new writers, poets, published writers, young writers, retired writers, women and men. There’s nothing quite as wonderful as seeing a roomful of writers messing around with words! And, on the other side of the table, there’s nothing quite as wonderful as sitting in a workshop, being guided by facilitators like Chantal or Rahla Xenopoulos, watching a story grow, listening to others, seeing how they have taken a particular prompt and run with it. What creative writing exercise or prompt do you use that produces interesting results from writers? I use prompts to get people going. I’ll give a prompt and that then leads into a timed freewrite. One thing I do frequently is set up a series of freewrites, all stemming from a set idea for a scene (for example something that might have happened in a childhood home). This shows writers they can produce a fully cohesive scene in less than thirty minutes. (A word to note here is ‘timed’. It’s reassuring for writers to know that they only have to keep going for a certain number of minutes.) I encourage writers to gather prompts as they write and to use those when they are sitting down to write on their own. I have a huge box, filled with prompts, and whenever I sit to write something new, I’ll grab a prompt to get started. Also, I encourage writers to use the workshop exercises in whatever way they want to, to suit whatever they want to write. Many writers who come to our workshops use the exercises to generate material for their novels, to kick-start a new poem. Others are there to see what happens next, where a particular prompt or exercise will take them. That’s the joy of freewriting – it’s very much a one-size-fits-all (writers) sort of process. During our workshops there’s always a chance for people to read some of what they have written and the results are always interesting, often earth-shatteringly good! What is the one piece of advice that you would give to new writers who are at the beginning stages of exploring their craft? Oh, gosh. Just one? I’m such a firm believer in getting the story out, getting it all written down, so I suppose that’s what I would say. I’m not saying, ‘Don’t edit’. Of course there comes a stage when you have to stop, look back, look over, see where you are, what still needs to be written. But don’t get hung up on needing your writing to be perfect, particularly in that first flush of the first draft. It’s a bit like a new romance. Fall in love with what you’re writing, accept it as it is, and then, later, look at it again and see the bumps, the wrinkles, the flaws, the flawed characters. One of Anne Schuster’s maxims which I have taken very much to heart in my own writing, comes from the Japanese term wabi-sabi, the idea of embracing something as it stands, accepting that it’s “good enough for now”, in all its imperfection. This isn’t to imply that you won’t strive to make your writing the very best it can be, but it does mean that you can relax into it, accept it and appreciate it as it is in the present moment, promise that you will return and work on it. But for now … it’s good enough and you can move on, let your story flow, allow new images to filter through and into the poem you are working on, watch as one memory nudges against another, then floats up and out of the recesses of the past in your memoir. Seeing your writing in this way allows you to move forward, stops you tinkering, and, often, saves your writing from being flattened and left lifeless and dull because of the need to make it perfect/acceptable/correct/precise … There will always be time to revise, but if you stop and worry about that full stop, that spelling, whether you should be writing in first person or third, whether you’re taking too much of a chance, whether you might offend your aunt/your brother/your grandmother, chances are you’ll lose sight of a thought that was starting to form. Writing can be slippery, don’t lose your grip on it! I wish I could say that I can guarantee that if you adopt this attitude to your writing –moving forward instead of constantly going back – you’ll allow a breathing space between what you have written and your hypercritical slash-and-burn mind, so that when you do look over your words, they won’t seem as awful as you first thought. Indeed, rather than simply being good enough for now, they’ll be even better than you thought! Still in need of editing? Sure. But nothing like as dire as they first seemed. But – there’s always a but, isn’t there? – there are no guarantees. This is what works for me, and what I’ve seen working for other writers. If the thought of treating your writing like this fills you with dread, sends cold fingers creeping up your spine, then disregard all of the above. Because that’s the other thing … each writer I know has, with practice, as word piles onto word, found what suits them. So … give “good enough for now” a go and see if it works for you. If it doesn’t, then try another tack. That’s the joy of writing, it lets you try and try again. It lets you explore new territory without a map and then it nods graciously when you realise you have to turn back and try again. All I ask is that you stay in love with writing, and that you show your love by picking up your pen and getting your words onto the page. Don’t stay in love with the idea of writing. Don’t spend too much time talking about writing. Don’t discuss your ideas to death so that by the time you finally sit down, what seemed like a marvellous story has lost its lustre. You won’t necessarily find what suits you immediately, but the more you write (remember that means words on paper not words about words) the more you’ll feel that click that tells you, “Yes, this is what you should keep doing. Keep doing it this way.” I wrote the following after I’d been extolling the joys and virtues of freewriting. It’s very much a first draft freewrite, but I haven’t wanted to correct it. It’s good enough to show how I felt. I read it every now and then to remind myself that writing can be scary, and daunting. The ground under your feet can feel shaky. But that bell does go. And if you keep writing until it does, you’ll have words on the page. Piles of them! Remembering my first writing workshop The bell rings. I am sitting on a hard chair at an aluminium table. There are four other women at the table and I don't know them at all. I'm here because I want to be, but I don't really know what to expect. We are doing something called freewriting which means that we have to take a thought and write with it for as long as we can, without stopping to think, or question or correct. I am terrified. I have spent so much of my life making sure that what is written is proper and correct, with all the bits in the right places. Surrendering conventional approaches isn't easy, and I'm battling, wanting to go back over what I've written. I'm sure there's a fullstop missing somewhere. This is the fourth one of these I've had to do this morning and I can't say it's any easier than the first. The women next to me are scribbling, heads bent, hands flying across pages. I'd really like to stop now, to think, see what I've written, what it sounds like in my mind, where I should change things, but we've been told not to do that, and if anything, I am good at following rules. So I do as I am told, and keep writing. It's a strange feeling, and I'm not sure where all these words want to lead and where I will land up at the end of them. Earlier, a woman sitting at another table read out what she'd written, and it sounded so good. Outside cars are swishing past and I want to pause a while and see where I am rushing to. I feel like I'm on a boat skippered by someone else, I have to trust the skipper, but it's hard. It goes against a grain which runs deep in me. Hers sounded good because she went along with her words, to where they wanted to take her. Mine drag at my pen and hold me back and say things like subject and verb, concord, and where is the punctuation? I've just sneaked a quick look at my watch. After this it will be teatime and I'll have a chance to relax the cramped muscles of my brain, my hand. The bell goes. Máire Fisher Any particular resource (website or book or anything) that you would recommend to writers? Oh, so many! What I love to do is treat creative writing handbooks like novels. I keep them next to my bed and read my way through them, marking places where an idea leads to a thought for a creative writing exercise. The internet is brimming with writing advice, prompts, reviews of books on writing. Some absolute favourites: To the Islands: A creative writing workbook by Anne Schuster and Erica Coetzee On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott Writing down the bones and anything else by Natalie Goldberg Light in the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration and the Artistic Process - edited by Joe Fassler I’m sure I’ve forgotten some really important ones, but these were the first that came to mind.