Name                         John Higgins

Resident of               Galway, Ireland

Place of birth            United Kingdom

4 bums on a rugby goalpost

Why do you write? –

Because I would be intolerable to be around if I didn’t.

What do you write about? –

Various topics; usually I write to try and understand why I think a certain way about something, or perhaps to try and understand another person’s viewpoint, no matter how extreme.

When do you write? –

I try to write as much as I can. An hour after dinner, or during a break from college, or until 4 A.M. Saturday morning.

Who do you read/ take inspiration from?  –

I try to read as widely as possible, and I’m sure a diverse range of writers have somehow added to the tapestry. The ones I am conscious of: Jameses Baldwin & Joyce, Kathy Acker, Burroughs, Oe, Natsume Soseki, Henry Miller. 

How do you write? –

I usually start off with a strong sentence, something that doesn’t leave my head. A kind of vague opening that I can add to, almost like dust gathering around a protoplanetary disk. Then I add, and add, without actually writing anything, until I can see the character, see the central dynamic, see what I’m trying to say.

Your going to release your first Album, what would it be called?

My brother and I discussed this before. My suggestion was The Sun & Other Serial Killers. A folk album.

You could be anything other than a writer, what would you be?

A lecturer, probably. I love research, I love the myriad meanings that can be extrapolated from books, and God I love talking.

Why are manhole covers round?

Six million years of evolution.

What would your autobiography be called?

Doesn’t matter, the 99 pence sale sticker would cover it up.

You can claim one piece of art as your own work, what would it be and why?

Starry Night Over the Rhone. Beautiful picture.

You’re on death row, what would your last meal be?

A key and a gun.

What was the last piece of music you listened to?

Tomorrow’s Gone by Charlie Megira

When did you last go to a live sporting event, what was it?

Years ago, Mayo vs. some other county, I think their tops were green.

If interviewed what would your pet say about you?

Who?

You can invent an App, what would it do?

Secretes a dopamine receptor that also turns people into lizards.

Describe yellow to someone who is blind in 50 words

It’s the sound of too-loud traffic, the feeling of nausea after too much pastry, the cracked-lip sensation when you sleep in a roasting room.