'Collaboration is the raison d'etre for me': Max Porter on art, grief, and working with Cillian Murphy

Ahead of Sounds From A Safe Harbour, writer Max Porter discusses expanding his book's universe, Irish audiences welcoming his work, and how working with Cillian Murphy influences him

Max Porter

The act of writing is intrinsically solitary. But for Max Porter getting it down on the page is only the first step. The acclaimed English author loves to play around with his work, bringing it to life in many formats, and the more people joining him in his creative sandbox, the better.

Porter will give a multi-disciplinary and improvised performance of his most recent novel Shy at the Sounds from a Safe Harbour festival in Cork next month. It is a perfect fit for Porter in more ways than one. Like his work, the festival — curated by Mary Hickson, actor Cillian Murphy, writer Enda Walsh and Aaron and Bruce Dessner of The National — defies expected boundaries and nothing is off the table when it comes to collaborative experimentation.

“Collaboration is the raison d'etre for me,” says Porter. “Trust is the whole thing, so if Mary says ‘this is a good person, do you want to work with them' I say ‘yeah, because it’s you’. I adore working with her — ‘anything for Mary Hickson’ is my motto. Also my work only comes alive when I put it up against music, try it in a different space or read it to an audience, so it is the dream festival for me, it’s everything I want an arts festival to be, actually.” 

Cillian Murphy in Grief is the Thing with Feathers, written by Max Porter, and adapted by Enda Walsh. Pic: Tim Walker

Porter previously worked as a bookseller and later in publishing before making his own mark on the literary scene with his sensational debut novel Grief is the Thing with Feathers, a whirling blend of prose and poetry about a grieving widower and his two sons who are comforted, tormented and protected by a crow. Shy, his fourth and most recent novel, is a virtuoso portrayal of one night in the life of a troubled teenage boy. He says that expanding Shy’s universe through improvised performance is a continuing revelation for him.

“It’s a little bit scary sometimes but then that’s also when it’s most exciting. I want the books to be unfinished until they meet the reader anyway. So what you've got is an incredible opportunity for 200 people to meet it and make it their own — it’s their unhappy teenage relative, troubled son, or their grief. I want to make something in the room that is completely unique to those people in that space. And I absolutely love that. It feels like a corrective to all the things that scare me about my job.” 

Porter, who lives in Bath with his wife and three sons, is no stranger to Cork, his most recent visit being in April, when he performed at an event in the Glucksman Gallery with musician Elaine Howley and writer Danny Denton.

“It was brilliant, I loved that. I’m very fond of Cork and I’m pleased to be coming back so soon. I did the West Cork Literary Festival one year as well which was incredible, I had one of the nicest swims of my life. I went walking around the bay there and found a nice little spot to swim in the morning. Swimming and reading are the two best things a human can do really.” 

 The author also loves Irish audiences, who he says embrace the fluidity of his performances.

“They don’t flinch. I don't know what I must have done in a past life to have earned it. I have always felt that my work is welcome. Maybe it's because there’s a sort of unEnglishness about the way I work. But also your culture industry is just so positive — unusual collaborations across different forms get a yes, whereas in the UK, they often get an ‘ah, sorry things are a bit tight or audiences won’t like that’.” 

 One of the most fruitful creative partnerships of Porter’s career has been with Cillian Murphy. Their friendship blossomed when the actor starred in the stage show of Grief is the Thing with Feathers (adapted by Enda Walsh). Porter and Murphy then collaborated on a short film, All of This Unreal Time, directed by Aoife McArdle, which will get its Irish premiere at Sounds from a Safe Harbour.

“That was a beautiful thing, actually, because that was written for Cillian as a gift for him to think about and read, and then he turned it into a more personal thing in the workshopping of it, and then in the film, it became more about Aoife McArdle’s thoughts. And that’s what I love, that my text isn’t owned by me, it goes off to be changed by them. It is exciting to show it in Ireland.” 

Shy by Max Porter - being performed at Sounds from a Safe Harbour

Porter says Murphy, currently wowing the world with his performance in Oppenheimer, has been a big influence on him personally and professionally.

“Working with Cillian is an absolute joy always. He’s a master of his art and has been a real influence on me and the way I think about language and performance. We have great irons in the fire. It is just beautiful to have a good creative friendship like that. And obviously he has gone off and conquered the world.” 

Murphy’s performance in Oppenheimer is ‘astonishing’, says Porter, adding: “It is mad… a biopic of a nuclear scientist doesn’t scream box office. It is incredible to see my 13-year-old son discussing it with all his mates on Snapchat.” 

 The struggle of what it is to be human and the loss that underpins our existence is never far from the surface in Porter’s work. Grief is something we all experience at some point, he says.

“We are all experiencing it at some point — the lady in front of you in the queue at the checkout, the guy you just tutted at because he couldn’t get his bus pass working. And if we all lived in a world where we based our behaviour slightly more on that truth, wouldn’t that be an incredible thing?” 

Art and the sharing of it helps us reckon with loss while finding joy, something that those behind Sounds from a Safe Harbour are also tuned into.

“We’re all coming together, we’re using art, music, language, dance, even smell — all to come to terms with stuff that happened last year or 20 years ago. Because it’s a shared thing. And I love how close to the surface that is — maybe it’s Mary's genius, maybe it's the nature of the festival, or the place. I don't know. But I run to it, I absolutely run to it. Because it creates extraordinary joy as well as deep gratitude and all the good things that we should be. It’s literally like hydration. And I need it.” 

• Max Porter presents Shy: An Evening of Storytelling, with special music guests, Friday, September 8, The Pav, Carey’s Lane, Cork. soundsfromasafeharbour.com

Other non-gig events at Sounds from a Safe Harbour:

Michael Keegan-Dolan and Rachel Poirier star in How to be a Dancer in Seventy-Two Thousand Easy Lessons

Volcano, Attic Projects

Luke Murphy brings this award-winning blend of experimental theatre, contemporary dance and sci-fi thriller to his native city. Presented in four back-to-back 45-minute performances.

The Granary Theatre, Fri, Sept 8, 6pm; Sat, Sept 9, 2pm.

How to be a Dancer in Seventy-two Thousand Easy Lessons 

Dance collective Teac Damsa transfixed audiences at SFSH in 2019 with Loch na hEala, their extraordinary reimagining of Swan Lake. Now Michael Keegan-Dolan, the creative force behind Teac Damsa, takes to the stage in this acclaimed show.

Everyman Theatre, Sat, Sept 9 and Sun, Sep 10, 8pm.

Liminal Soundbath, hosted by Alex Somers with special guests 

The Marina Market warehouse space plays host to this intriguing alternative to the usual Saturday night out. Join Sigur Ros producer Alex Somers and special guests in this sensual musical experience.

Marina Market, Sat, Sept 9, 10pm