Jennifer Barclay Interview
Interview Time: Rob Savage meets travel author Jennifer Barclay
When you were a kid what was it that always made everything OK again?
A book, a walk or my gran.
In today’s gripping climate of economic doom and recession orientated gloom ‐ which comedian still puts a smile on your face?
I’m a Dara O’Briain fan, but in general I prefer comedians of the bookish variety. Pies and Prejudice by Stuart Maconie made me laugh out loud the other day on the perception of what supper is in the south of England compared to the north (I’m a northerner). I still love the opening scene of William Sutcliffe’s Are You Experienced? when he’s in an Indian airport and can’t see how so many people could be in the same room without eating each other.
I put this question to all of my interviewees but as an author and publisher ‐ the pressure is on! What are your top five books of all time?
I’m hopelessly fickle, which is why I can’t come up with such a list ‐ sometimes I go back and re‐read something and I don’t love it as much as I did in the moment when I first read it, while there are other books I know I’ll want to read again later in life, like Beowulf in the original. Because I work in publishing I hardly ever read published books, mainly manuscripts ‐ and I get a great buzz at that moment of reading something good in its raw form and realising you’ve found a gem. But here are five great books that I read last year…!
- House of Stone by Christina Lamb
- Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
- A Year in the Scheisse by Roger Boyes
- Big Man Coming Down the Road by Brad Smith
- The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden
One of my favourite introductory quotes from Meeting Mr Kim is Washington Irving’s: “Myself, being in a manner a haphazard loiterer about the world, and prone to linger in its pleasant places…” Do you live by the same ethos and if you had to linger in one place for the rest of your life, where would it be?
It’s a great quote, isn’t it? I linger in Spain and Greece as often as I can, because they are very pleasant. And I’ve loitered in many places I’d love to return to. If I knew where I wanted to linger for the rest of my life, I think I’d already be there. But it depends who you’re with and what you’re doing, I think, and I’m not sure I’m ready to pick a place for 'the rest of my life' yet ‐ it seems so final!
When you’re sat in front of a blank computer screen, willing your writer’s block to evaporate and the words to start flowing, what helps you to kick start the creative process?
I was going to say a bit of research never does any harm. Reading back over my notes and just getting them down on the computer, and then editing them ‐ that’s why I tend to write from experience and I think fiction must be hard. But also reminding yourself that you don’t have to be doing it, that it’s a luxury, is a good impetus too. Reminding yourself that tomorrow you’ll be earning a living and won’t have time to write.
Now that the BBC is backing Lonely Planet and Penguin is behind the Rough Guides, do you think it’s harder for independent publishers to flourish or do you think their stand alone identity works in their favour?
I think I’d be nervous if we published mainly guidebooks, because people are looking to other media than books for their information, though as an old fogey I always prefer books and think Lonely Planet do a great job of seeing the best in any place. We publish travel writing, which doesn’t compete with Lonely Planet or Rough Guides, as these are personal stories that can give you pleasure even if you’re not travelling to that place. And I think there will always be a niche for a great product. We published (unusually for us) a guide to the Big Walks of Great Britain last year and it did very well, even though it’s not very different from the Lonely Planet guide to walking in Britain.
What irritating celebrity can you not stand and if you ruled the word, what punishment would you award them?
One of the strangest things about moving back to the UK four years ago was the whole celebrity culture here. (That and the fact that people eat so many crisps.) Thankfully, my television has an 'off' button, so I don’t have to watch celebrities I don’t like. Their punishment for being irritating is that I don’t know who they are. And I’m sure that doesn’t bother them a great deal.
Without ruining the story for the readers who are yet to assimilate Meeting Mr Kim, how would you summarise the book?
It’s the story of a woman who gives up her job to follow her 'rock star' drummer boyfriend to South Korea, not knowing anything about the country, and the misadventures this bumbling westerner gets up to. Silly, funny, but sometimes inspiring, I hope, about the joy of surprises in travel.
What’s on your Christmas wish list this year?
Inspiration and love, and perhaps some nice socks.
Finally ‐ can we expect to see some more superb, book shaped contributions to the travel writing world from you?
I am tinkering with something, oh yes. I might need to book some time off though…
No comments were found
