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Colin Walsh is an award-winning short story writer and debut author. In 2019, he was named Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year. Colin's first novel, Kala, is a gripping literary thriller, set in a small Irish town suffocating on its own secrets as three friends reunite in their hometown where their friend Kala disappeared fifteen years ago. Kala brilliantly examines the sometimes brutal costs of belonging, as well as the battle in the human heart between vengeance and forgiveness, despair and redemption. Kala is shortlisted for the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year.
Congratulations on making the shortlist for Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year! How does it feel to have this recognition?
It’s lovely, a real honour. Writing your first novel is a years-long leap of faith, and to have Kala acknowledged in any way is just class, but it’s especially heartening to have Kala embraced by the Irish book community. That’s a gratitude that goes way deeper.
When did you begin your writing journey? And what has it been like?
I spent years thinking about writing fiction, and I was very good at that because it required no writing whatsoever. Then in 2016, I got the offer of a PhD in America. I had no money left from my studies, the PhD was fully funded, and it would have set me on a very definite path in life. That was the moment I realised, if I don’t start writing now, I’ll never do it. I turned down the PhD and began my first short story the next day. It’s the most important decision I’ve ever made, but it was tough for a long time afterwards. I barely got by for quite a while; after my rent, I was earning 50 euros per month or less, and there was this constant knot in my stomach and many sleepless nights of worrying I’d set my life on fire. But I was teaching myself how to write, and a part of me deeper than fear knew I was doing the right thing.
Tell us a bit about your book?
Kala is set in a tourist town on Ireland’s west coast, and it’s the story of a group of friends who we follow as teenagers and as adults. As teenagers, we’re with them for the ‘summer of their lives’ – this heightened time where they’re passing through all kinds of teenage thresholds: first love, first kiss, first time getting drunk, all that feverish hormonal magic. And at the centre of this group is Kala. She’s 15, and she’s the leader of their gang, their emotional heartbeat. But beneath every smiling surface in their town, there’s this broiling darkness that’s constantly threatening to swallow the characters. Over the course of this idyllic teenage summer, they’re getting closer and closer to that darkness. Then Kala goes missing. Fifteen years later, three of the surviving members of the gang find themselves thrown back together when human remains are found in the woods, and the past and the present begin to dramatically and violently collide.
What were your aims and ideas when it came to this book? And what do you hope readers take away from it?
My favourite reading experiences are those where I feel like I’m being met by something living and real – the story is ‘true’ in some vital way, I want to spend time with these characters, I want to be lost in this world, I don’t want to close the covers, I want the book to last forever. My wildest dream in writing Kala was that I might give someone out there the sort of magical experience that certain books have given me.
Ireland is a literary powerhouse - do you think it’s supportive of its new writers?
The short answer is yes – and not just new writers. Ireland’s a literary powerhouse precisely because we’ve got an Arts Council-supported infrastructure of journals, festivals, indie publishers, etc. That creates a rich writing ecosystem, which is essential to maintaining individual artists and the wider literary culture. Writing is unpredictable magic on the page, but magic always needs concrete structures within which to thrive – that’s what Ireland provides for writers, and that’s why we punch so far above our weight internationally.
What’s next for you?
A novel. I’m also working on new short stories and a play. A big dream is to work on screenplays – if the Kala TV adaptation gets off the ground, that’ll be a major project.
Who are your favourite Irish writers?
There are loads. The first that spring to mind: Kevin Barry, Wendy Erskine, Megan Nolan, Tom Murphy, Marina Carr, William Trevor. There are so many more though.
What An Post Irish Book Awards shortlisted book is next on your to-be-read pile?
Tonight I’m going to start reading Poor by Katriona O’Sullivan. I listened to a podcast interview with her last week and immediately bought the book – hearing her speak was a revelation. I’m looking forward to reading it - I've heard such good things about it.
Explore the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year Shortlist here.