Culture That Made Me: Katriona O’Sullivan, author of Poor, picks her touchstones
Katriona O'Sullivan is at St Luke's as part of Cork World Book Fest. Picture: Ailbhe O'Donnell
Katriona O’Sullivan, 48, was born in Coventry, England to Irish parents. She moved to Dublin in 1998. Having enrolled in a Trinity College access programme, she gained a PhD in psychology, focusing on addition.
In 2023, she published a bestselling memoir about her inspiring journey from poverty and homelessness to a career in academia. She will be in discussion with Deirdre O’Shaughnessy of the at the Cork World Book Festival about her new book, in St Luke’s at 2.30pm, Sunday, April 26.
Growing up, I was a massive fan of Roald Dahl. I loved his books because there was always a baddie and there was always a goodie and the goodie always won out. I needed hope as a child, to know that I was gonna be rescued from the darkness of my life because my life was really hard. I remember reading and and thinking, maybe this giant will come and rescue me. Or maybe I'll find myself a giant peach and go around the world and be saved. Books gave me dreams and hopes, dreams I couldn't have for my own life.
I love Harper Lee’s I read it when I was 11 or 12. I loved it because I understood it – the injustice. My teacher was trying to teach us about inequality in a way that was not so direct. The film adaptation with Gregory Peck is the only time I've ever thought a film is as good as the book.
In my later teens, I loved the classics. I loved Shakespeare. I loved I suppose I love that I got it. I could understand the words. I loved it because of Shylock, the Jew who is thought of as the villain, but really, he's the victim. I loved anything that had an injustice theme.
was amazing. I thought it was fiction for years. Frank McCourt was a great writer. It was a really good depiction of poverty, and what it does to people. When you grow up poor, it's great to hear other stories about poverty. Because I was from an Irish family in the UK when it came out, it made me feel connected to Ireland in some way. I love a triumph story, a story of redemption or the phoenix rising from the ashes, and that was the ultimate one. What a great book. I read it in two days. It's a compulsive read.
is what I do for escapism. It’s a reality TV show that follows these women – for about 12 years or so now – and I'm invested. I am there. I know them. They fight with each other. I'm constantly thinking, is this real? How can they afford that handbag? How do I get myself a house like that? That's my thought process as I'm watching it.
I also love is like me. I had a baby when I was 16. These girls have babies when they're teens and it follows them. It’s a series. I've been following this group of girls for nearly 20 years. They're all about 35 now. I Google them regularly as well. There are five or six girls all over America. There's one who's done extremely well, one whose kids are in care, one who had an adoption. It's brilliant TV.
I loved podcast from James Leonard and Timmy Long, two lads who are in recovery from Cork, but it’s not on anymore. They were brilliant. Their podcast was very mental-health focused, around addiction and recovery. It was very relatable for myself, as I'm in recovery. They were honest. Sometimes, I like a voice like my own on a podcast. Sometimes podcast hosts can be very shiny and annoying. I like someone who's real and who speaks like a normal person.
I loved Charlotte Brontë’s It’s a classic. I love a dramatic love story and it’s the ultimate bad love story. I love its imagery and its language, the way land is used to depict emotions. I was a cool kid that was with a gang who were robbing cars but reading Wuthering Heights at the end of the day, but I couldn’t tell them. You can't smoke your smokes at the back of the bike sheds while you're reading Charlotte Brontë.
A Cork person I listen to – who’s sadly no longer with us – is Talos. If I ever post anything poignant on social media, I add his music over the top of it. He's so gifted and such a loss to the artistic community. I use his music because good people shouldn't be forgotten. There are a few songs I constantly listen to. His song is a masterpiece. Whenever I want to feel my feelings, which is often, and they can't come to the surface, I'll put that on. I love sad songs. I love emotional music. His songwriting was beautiful, but also his producing of music was amazing.
by Tara Westover is extraordinary. It's about a girl who grew up in America. Her family was abusive but in a different way to mine. There was mental illness in the family. They were really poor hillbillies. They lived in the mountains. There was violence. There was religious extremism going on. Then she ended up going to university and becoming an academic, escaping her destiny. It's well written, a fantastic book.
is a brilliant movie. I'd watch it over and over again. Jack Nicholson is such a brilliant actor. There are so many great themes going on in the film. There's the mental illness side of it. There's how inappropriate he is and how awkward it feels. Then you've the story of Helen Hunt’s character, her family and the kids. It's a love story, but an unusual love story. There are moments in it that make me feel warm inside. I love good feel-good movies.
I listen to the podcast at least once a week. I'm trying to learn Irish. It feels modern. They chat about their lives, what they've done in the week, what's going on in the world. They talk about cultural activities; they might have been at, say, Electric Picnic. They dip in and out of English and Irish, trying to make it so it feels normal, so you get a sense of some words as you listen to it. When you hear things over and over again in Irish, it gives you more of an embedding in the language. It's a great podcast.
The first time people read my book they see the trauma; the second time, they see the music because there's loads of music in my book. I'm not a musician, but I love to sing. I couldn't live my life without music. My heart beats to Fleetwood Mac. The rhythm of my heart is The stage adaptation of features all the album’s songs are in the show.
