Author: ‘We drove into a Cork town, fell in love with it, and stayed...’

As an acclaimed poet and playwright, Paul McMahon is no stranger to receiving awards for his work.

His poetry has appeared in leading literary publications in Ireland and abroad, while his most recent play was developed with The Abbey Theatre.

But the Belfast man, who now lives with his family in Clonakilty, does not shy away from a challenge.

Setting his sights on writing a novel, he has now achieved recognition for this form, too, as he was recently crowned one of 12 winners of this year’s Irish Writers Centre International Debut Novel Competition.

“I was delighted,” says Paul of his win. “Getting the recognition from the judges to start off with is a big thing because it just gives you the feeling that the book is on the right path.”

To say that Paul’s book, The Playboy Of West Belfast, is “on the right path” is to perhaps undersell it.

The International Debut Novel Competition, organised annually by the Irish Writers Centre, attracts huge numbers of submissions. This year, Paul’s work stood out from a crowd of 804 submissions from 38 countries.

He and the 11 other winning unpublished novelists will now have the opportunity to pitch their books directly to leading publishers and literary agents over two dedicated ‘pitch days’ taking place in September. These pitch days are a highlight for the winners, and often signal the beginning of a successful publication journey, as Mags McLoughlin, CEO of the Irish Writers Centre, outlines.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of this competition is seeing writers progress from pitching an unpublished manuscript to celebrating the publication of their debut novel,” says Mags.

“This opportunity,” says Paul of the upcoming pitches, “would be a wonderful way to bring [the book] to the next step... If you can get an agent, and one who’s an editor as well, then that’s just great. That gets the book with an outside eye.

“It’s like if you’re building a boat,” he continues of the chance to work with agents and editors. “You need a person on land to look at the boat and say, ‘that bit’s off’. You need somebody with a bit of distance.”

Paul’s novel has been seven years in the making at his home in West Cork, so he’s keen to take it to the next stage, “so we can really have a look and just test the structure”.

He describes the novel as “a dark comedy and coming-of-age story”.

Although known for his poems and plays, Paul has long been interested in the novel form.

“I’ve got maybe four unfinished novels that I have to get onto after this one,” he says. “I’ve always been writing novels... I’m very much at home in that format.”

Writing The Playboy of West Belfast has been a joyous experience for Paul, as he explains.

“It just had this kind of energy to it. As soon as I started, it just exploded. It went really, really fast in a sense.

“Although it’s taken seven years, I had the first draft done within a year, and it was such a pleasure to write.”

Paul derives great enjoyment from writing in general, describing it as “the most magic thing” that he does, but he has a great appreciation for the holistic process of novel-writing in particular.

“You can just get on and work [with a novel]”, he explains. “Sit down and work through it, especially after the first draft is done.

“With poetry, it’s not the same... You can sit down at a desk but the prose mightn’t come. And with plays, you need actors to bring it all to life. A finished play is only one part of the story, whereas with a novel, it’s the complete world. The whole story’s there.”

While Paul may not have struggled to find his flow when writing the book, the act of putting pen to paper still took discipline - and early alarm calls - for the busy father-of-two.

“I was getting up at five”, he recounts, “so I could work from five until nine, just to get that time before the day would start.

“I found those hours enough because you want that real clear energy.

“I’ve met people who work in the evening and the night time, but I think it suits me best in the morning, just before the day drains all the energy out of me!”

Paul’s novel is set in his original home town “where most of the stuff [in the book] actually happened... working in fiction, probably more novels are based on truth than what you might think!”

But it was written in his new home of Clonakilty. The town was love at first sight for the writer and his wife, Laura.

“In 2018, we were driving through the town and we were just completely shocked by the actual place. It just struck us as being this really real, authentic place. So we stopped the car and we stayed.”

Eight years and two daughters later, the family are well and truly settled. “And we got married here last year,” says Paul. “The entire novel was written here. It’s just a great place to write.”

Writing is the day job for Paul - or rather, one of them. When he’s not polishing his prose or poems, he’s a musician and a lyricist for other recording artists.

The priority currently, however, is his novel and the upcoming pitches.

What advice would Paul give to any aspiring novelists?

Don’t give up, he says.

“The thing that I’ve picked up over the years,” he elaborates, “is that if you just keep on, go at it, eventually it gets done”.”

For more on the Irish Writers Centre International Debut Novel Competition, visit https://irishwriterscentre.ie/

Mallow author Aisling de Barra will be hosting a storytime session in Glanmire Library from 12pm on Saturday, September 5.

She will be reading from her book, Loved Just The Same, and will also be talking to the children about reading and books. There will be a drawing exercise where everyone can learn about each other’s families too.

It is a free event, and everyone is welcome.