Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer ACCORDING TO some, Andrea Levy came to writing late in life, having begun in her 30s. Levy was one of the authors slated to headline the 2005 Calabash International Literary Festival in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth, from May 27-29, reading from the Great Non-American Novel yesterday afternoon.
A child of Jamaican emigrants to Britain, it is her second visit to the island and she expresses great interest in getting to know the place better, in part as research. We meet in the hotel lobby, but soon escaped the thought-preventing noise of the café for the poolside. Dressed in a green, flowing, floral skirt and white blouse, Levy looks ready for an 'island' vacation. She displays an easy manner and a ready smile.
She began writing after the death of her father and her first trip to Jamaica was a catalyst for her stories, as it "aroused her curiosity". However, it was not an attempt to get therapy for the loss. "I thought it was a good thing to do," Levy says, explaining how she started writing. She began taking writing classes, though she did not consider it as a career option as she was quite prepared to give it up should it not work out. This changed, however, when she realised that she had an issue to explore, her family's history, and something to say.
When her father died, Levy felt the need to visit the island of his birth. On coming to Jamaica she discovered a personal history and family she had not known about before and with that discovery came something to write about. Her first three novels explore the issues faced by black British-born children of Jamaican emigrants. Every Light in the House Burnin (1994) is a semi-autobiographical tale of a Jamaican family living in London in the 1960s. Never Far from Nowhere (1996) deals with two sisters living in a London council estate. In Fruit of the Lemon (1999) tells the story of a woman who visits Jamaica after a nervous breakdown and discovers a personal history.
Small Island (2004) is Levy's most successful novel. It has earned the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Whitbread Book of the Year (2004) and the Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best Book (2005). In 1998 Levy received the Arts Council Award.
Small Island's success has meant that for the past year, Levy has been doing the thing she finds most difficult about writing: the performance that comes after readings, interviews and talks. Levy finds this "verbal place" difficult to deal with, because she fears being misrepresented. She explains that her writing process takes place in six-page stages, which are first written in longhand then typed, then she chips away to get it just right so that it says exactly what she wants to. This is not possible when giving interviews and the like.
On the other hand, "having written" is what she describes as the "most enjoyable bit". She explains that the feeling she gets when it appears that something else has taken over and she is just "singing" is one of life's best pleasures. However, she is quite aware that a writer cannot wait on inspiration.
"Writing is one of those things that everyone wants to do, but it's very hard work," she says. "You have to know it's a craft. You have to read and then you have to write."
She also admits that having something to say would also be "great".
Despite her current success, Levy faced her share of rejection with her first book. "Being a writer is 50 per cent talent and 50 per cent tenacity," she says. "You have to take it on the chin and say 'this is part of it'." Her chin appears to have recovered from any bruising.
