Molly Landis ’27

News Editor

Nicole Flattery represents a new generation in Irish literature.
Courtesy of Interview Magazine

On Wednesday, April 3rd, Irish writer Nicole Flattery came to Holy Cross for a craft talk and a reading from her novel, Nothing Special and her collection of stories, Show Them a Good Time. Flattery has won numerous awards for her writing, including An Irish Post Book Award, the London Magazine Prize for Debut Fiction, and the White Review Short Story Prize. Flattery graduated from the master’s program in creative writing at Trinity College and is one of the writers for the Writers Room at Dublin’s Museum of Literature. This program is a partner of the Holy Cross Callahan Fund, which brought her to the college. 

During Flattery’s reading, she read portions of her writing, and then did a Q&A. In the Q&A she talked about the humorous aspect of her novel, explaining how it is a dark sense of humor, used as both a coping mechanism and a literary device. She explained how her use of humor is also a way to trick the reader into thinking they are reading a different type of story as well as saying that if you can get someone to laugh, you are creating an instant sense of trust. Flattery talked about how her novel is, at its heart, a representation of surveillance and technology. She is fascinated by this issue in society today and used it as an inspiration for her book, delving into how we can get away from surveillance, and how it affects both our relationships and our lives in general. This is a common theme of her writing, using issues she cares about or is frustrated with as a motivation. 

Flattery stated that she wanted her writing to be weird and different, preferring an interesting character over a likable one. She said that things are weird and life is not normal, and neither are her books. Flattery ended with a piece of advice for young writers, telling them to get the reader in the first sentence. Make them laugh and grab their attention, and then keep it. 

The next craft talk and reading is on April 11th. Vesna Goldsworthy, a memorist, poet, and novelist, will be giving a craft talk at 3:30 pm (location tbd) and a reading at 7:30 pm in the Booth Media Lab in the Prior Performing Arts Center.