Kevin Power: 'We have a culture where niceness is valued over honesty'

Nominated for the novel of the year prize at Listowel Writers' Week, Kevin Power has also turned his attention to the current state of literary criticism

Kevin Power is one of the guests at Listowel Writers' Week. Picture: Nick Bradshaw  

When Kevin Power came across Virginia Woolf’s advice to a young poet — ‘For heaven’s sake, publish nothing before you are thirty’ — he had already released his debut novel Bad Day in Blackrock to widespread acclaim, at the tender age of 27. 

However, as the Dublin author struggled to follow up on its success, Woolf’s salutary words resonated. Winning a Rooney Prize and having his book adapted for the screen by Lenny Abrahamson [What Richard Did] did not bestow any special powers when it came to sitting down and writing another one.