John Saul
John Saul was born in Liverpool, England. For most of the year he lives and works in Germany, where he translates for an international environmental organisation. He has also lived in France, Canada and Ecuador, where he began writing fiction. His short stories have appeared extensively in the UK and elsewhere, most notably in Australia and Canada. He is the author of two novels, Heron and Quin and Finistère.
Author photo © Nick Davies
How did you get into writing?
Tracing backwards to my teens, I was always very interested in reading fiction. I didn't feel I could possibly write anything coherent myself until I was thirty or so. In my mid thirties I took almost two years off work to read more and start writing. After writing for about two years a story was taken by the Fiction Magazine, an excellent place to be published at that time. The Fiction Magazine took two further stories and other magazines also became interested.
What's the worst advice you can give a young author?
A difficult question, partly since people only want to give good advice, not bad. One bad piece of advice might be: be cautious. Another might be: try and write what you think the market wants. If you follow the first bad piece of advice you will probably never write anything worthwhile. If you follow the second you won't easily find what is interesting in writing fiction yourself.
How was the experience of writing Call It Tender?
I didn't write Call It Tender. I wrote stories over a period of years and when I found a book publisher we agreed on the contents of the book. Call It Tender is effectively the product of five years of writing, on and off, of stories which were either published elsewhere first or would have eventually found a magazine publisher. How was the experience of the writing involved? Long and gruelling with occasional joys.
Who are your greatest influences?
It's hard to cite anything or anyone that directly influences what I write. As I said, taking risks is important - pushing the idea of your story to its limits, and any writer who clearly takes risks and whom I enjoy reading will have been an indirect influence. Julio Cortázar is certainly one such writer. Steinbeck is an ideal as far as clarity in writing is concerned. Carson McCullers is splendid because she doesn't write to any obvious scheme. I could name a hundred such influences, not all writers by any means; they would include artists, musicians and film makers.
What's next for John Saul?
Salt Publishing is bringing out my collection entitled The Most Serene Republic: love stories from cities in March 2008. There is a possibility of a third collection and I'm now writing as much new fiction as I can for
this.
Call It Tender can be purchased
Cadaverine Magazine 2007
