Karen Gillece and Thomas Martin, writers
Karen Gillece (31) and Thomas Martin (24) grew up in Rathfarnham, Dublin with their older sister Tracy and their mother Kitty. Last February Karen's first novel Seven Nights in Zaragoza was published by Hodder Headline Ireland, and she has just completed her second, which will be in bookshops next year. Thomas is finishing a degree in English and Philosophy in UCD and in September will begin a Masters in Creative Writing at Trinity College. Last week he was shortlisted for the second time in the Hennessy Literary Awards. They live in Dublin.
KAREN By the time Thomas came along I had got used to being the youngest, so it took a bit of adjusting to. I had double vision for a while when he was born, and the doctors thought it was some kind of psychological reaction to Thomas; it seems seeing double was an attempt to try and claw back some of the attention I'd lost.
When our parents split up, I was 12 and he was five. I got much closer to him after that and I would be quite protective about him.
We have a lot in common and are very similar in many ways, although he is more academic than me. I used to read his essays before he brought them into college and it was really a way of educating myself because they were so good. We both like to travel. Last summer we were away at the same time, but on different sides of the world. I e-mailed him from South America to tell him I'd just heard that my book was going to be published, and he e-mailed me back from Beijing saying how great a day it was because he'd been in Tiananmen Square, and to top it all he went into an internet cafe and read my good news.
We have very different writing styles. I like to write about things that happen in people's personal lives while he is really into philosophy and tackling the big issues. He is definitely edgier than me and into darker stuff and is a huge talent. He is also quite secretive. I didn't even know he was writing before he got the story published that led to his first nomination.
Thomas is a deep thinker and very opinionated so there will always be times when he is on a rant and I will play devil's advocate to wind him up. Like all passionate people he can be a bit too strident with his views at times.
He is also a very loyal brother and great craic. We like the same kinds of things and hang around together a lot. Over the past 10 years he has become a really good friend.
THOMAS I have been trying to emulate Karen since I was very young; she has been a great influence on my life. When she was in school her favourite subject was English so I would read all the books she brought into the house. I didn't necessarily like them but I read them because that's what she was reading.
Now that I am in my 20s I think I have a little bit more influence on her than she has on me. She was really into period films and modernist books at one stage, and I tried to get her into contemporary urban American writers and dark French films.
I really like her writing and when I heard that she was having her book published I remember being over the moon. It was a real epiphany for me. I thought "well Karen has done it so there is no reason why I can't do it, too". I like to think I have had some influence over her second book, which is darker than the first. I also came up with the title, Longshore Drift.
If I need a shoulder to cry on I can always go to Karen, but she can be a typical moody writer sometimes. Once, she was writing a short story for a magazine and she showed me it before publication. When I told her not to send it in yet and suggested some changes, she went nuts. She can be quite fiery, but in a good way. In the end she made the changes, and she is always there to give me tips on writing, too. One of the best things about our relationship is that we have great conversations and never run out of things to say to each other.
- in conversation with Róisín Ingle