Colm Tóibín Quotes

Colm Tóibín is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic and poet.Tóibín is currently Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University and succeeded Martin Amis as professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester. He was appointed Chancellor of the University of Liverpool in 2017.Hailed as a champion of minorities as he collected the 2011 Irish PEN Award, that same year he was named by The Observer one of "Britain's Top 300 Intellectuals" despite being Irish.

✵ 30. May 1955
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Colm Tóibín: 12   quotes 0   likes

Famous Colm Tóibín Quotes

“A novelist could probably run a military campaign with some success. They could certainly run a country.”

Colm Tóibín, novelist – portrait of the artist http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/feb/19/colm-toibin-novelist-portrait-artist, The Guardian (19 February 2013)

“I wanted to be a poet as a child and I have a wall in my study dedicated to poetry books, all in alphabetical order, that reminds me daily of my failure.”

World of Colm Tóibín, writer http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/authorinterviews/9108553/World-of-Colm-Toibin-writer.html, The Daily Telegraph (27 February 2012)

“Ending a novel is almost like putting a child to sleep – it can't be done abruptly.”

Colm Tóibín, novelist – portrait of the artist http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/feb/19/colm-toibin-novelist-portrait-artist, The Guardian (19 February 2013)

“The only time I've ever learned anything from a review was when John Lanchester wrote a piece in the Guardian about my second novel, The Heather Blazing. He said that, together with the previous novel, it represented a diptych about the aftermath of Irish independence. I simply hadn't known that – and I loved the grandeur of the word "diptych."”

I went around quite snooty for a few days, thinking: "I wrote a diptych."
Colm Tóibín, novelist – portrait of the artist http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/feb/19/colm-toibin-novelist-portrait-artist, The Guardian (19 February 2013)

Colm Tóibín Quotes

“I was the worst barman who ever lived. My pints of Guinness were unholy.”

The best holiday reads http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jun/17/best-holiday-reads, The Guardian (17 June 2011)

“If a storyteller came up to me, I'd run away.”

Colm Tóibín, novelist – portrait of the artist http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/feb/19/colm-toibin-novelist-portrait-artist, The Guardian (19 February 2013)

“I have a rule that I don't drink in New York because I don't want to wake up with a hangover and not be able to work.”

World of Colm Tóibín, writer http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/authorinterviews/9108553/World-of-Colm-Toibin-writer.html, The Daily Telegraph (27 February 2012)

“I was brought up in a house where there was a great deal of silence.”

Colm Tóibín: writers and their families http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/17/colm-toibin-how-i-killed-my-mother, The Guardian (17 February 2012)

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