February 01, 2005

Who is Catherine Barry?

Can looking good on the outside, heal the inside? This is the basic question which drove Irish author Catherine Barry to explore the modern fascination with plastic surgery...

‘The world is obsessed with the outer person, with shows like 'Extreme Makeover' and 'The Swan' making people believe that they can change who they are and heal all the hurt in their lives, if only they had a smaller nose/bigger boobs/whatever,’ says Catherine.

‘That’s what I wanted to explore in Skin Deep. The idea that my heroine, Finn, could be happy and erase all the bad things that have happened to her, if only she goes under the knife.’

Writing about inner scars is Catherine Barry’s trademark. This Dublin-born writer says she loved reading as a child. She contributes this to her fathers love of literature, who took her to the local library every week. Her passion for writing was born. However, in the great tradition of writers says, ‘I didn’t think I could write a book…I was undisciplined and lazy...it still amazes me to this day that I am a novelist! Poetry had been my first love. I had many poems and short stories published before I even considered trying to write a book. Poetry is and always will be a great love of mine, it was my way of expressing myself, my way of finding my own voice, something I felt I hadn't had,'

It was only when her two children were a little older and she was raising them as a single parent, that she decided to start writing novels.
‘I had two kids under 6 and was working as an administrative assistant and never had a moment to myself but…I started to write at the kitchen table. I found that I loved it. I’d always been involved in writer’s groups, and had kept a diary since I was seven,’

That book was 'The House That Jack Built', a searing tale of one woman’s battle with alcoholism that The Irish Times called ‘a gutsy, raw debut from a very promising new author,'

‘I couldn’t believe it,’ says Catherine. ‘One moment I was dreaming of being published, the next, I had a publishing deal. It all happened very quickly,'

She followed that first book with 'Null and Void', a novel detailing the pain that’s left when a marriage breaks down, yet in typical fashion, Catherine decided to focus on the unexplored, the 'spiritual' angle and effects of marriage breakdown. The novel takes us on a journey through the often bizarre and much misunderstood process of the 'Catholic Annulment'

'I was sick and tired of reading about divorce/separation. The courts, the solicitors, the financial angle. I had already been through the Catholic Annulment process and just HAD to write about it, there's so much more to marriage breakdown than the legal aspect,' says Barry.

Catherine also writes short stories, notably, the widely acclaimed 'The 28th Day', (Irish Girls About Town)

Catherine also writes periodically for newspapers & magazines and is an established and published poet.

While Skin Deep examines the current trends in obsession with outer image, Catherine is currently working on a novel that looks at the increasingly dysfunctional world we live in today. 'Madly in Love’ blends Catherine's wit and acute observance of flawed people, as she examines one woman's journey through a stay in one of Ireland’s modern psychiatric hospitals.

'I suppose the core theme of 'Madly in love' is about loneliness, it seems to me, that more and more people are booking themselves in to these 'luxury hotel type' retreats. They call them convalescing homes I think...I call them what they are, psychiatric hospitals,' she says bluntly 'I mean you have to ask, why is this happening? I can't help feeling that the greatest need in this world at the moment is for one human being to truly LISTEN to another, sadly this seems to be lacking in modern day living, hence our hospital beds are full.

People are sick with depression and eating disorders and addiction and so on. Deep down, every human being needs to be loved and nurtured. Isn't it a sign of the times when we have everything we could possibly want and need, yet more and more people are turning to these kind of facilities to get some nurturing? I feel that's terribly sad,' she says thoughtfully. 'But as with all my novels, I add a huge amount of light and laughter to what are difficult and thorny subjects, the way I see it, tragedy is funny in a bizarre kind of way, isn't it?' she asks with a hint of a smile.

Catherine Barry is as passionate about community issues as she is about her writing 'We can't keep taking from this planet, we have to give something back to our society, if everybody did a little bit, what a nicer place this world would be!' she says. She currently works for an organisation that assists lone parent families. She has worked previously with long term unemployed people and has a great interest in modern day current affairs and politics.

Catherine lives on the Northside of Dublin with her two children, Davitt and Caitriona, and her two cats, Billy and Jacque.

Catherine is available for interviews.

Posted by damien at 01:17 PM | Comments (0)