Look at Austen. In her novels, you get a dance, followed by an encounter, followed by a letter, then a period of… — Colm Toibin Copy Share Image
“Q: What's the biggest myth about writing? A: That there's any wildness attached to it. Writing tends to be very deliberate." [… — Colm Tóibín Creative process Copy Share Image
The old Victorian laws against homosexuality were still on the statute books until the early 1990s. As a gay man living in… — Colm Toibin Books Copy Share Image
I said that when I looked at photographs of the firefighters who went into the Twin Towers, their faces looked to me… — Colm Toibin America Copy Share Image
When a book comes from the publisher and you see it for the first time... Of course it's not remotely like seeing… — Colm Toibin Baby Copy Share Image
“There will always be reservations, things one must leave out, events one can’t explain without handing over a full map of one’s… — Colm Tóibín Life Copy Share Image
“I have been acquainted with the smell of death. The sickly, sugary smell that wafted in the wind towards the rooms in… — Colm Tóibín Death Copy Share Image
I first went to Barcelona in 1975 after university, and I stayed for three years. I learnt Catalan because that's what everyone… — Colm Toibin Barcelona Copy Share Image
The sentences I write have their roots in song and poetry, and take their bearings from music and painting, as much as… — Colm Toibin Copy Share Image
Everyone who's in America spends the first few years not experiencing it. The person is frightened by the newness of the place… — Colm Toibin America Copy Share Image
“Could we move around the world staying in nice hotels, just we three, and writing letters home when some very witty remark… — Colm Tóibín Around the world Copy Share Image
“memory and regret can mingle, how much sorrow can be held within, and how nothing seems to have any shape or meaning… — Colm Tóibín Memory Copy Share Image
