Talking with Niccolo Ammaniti: A day to remember!

Once in a while a day comes along where events are so memorable that the day is marked in your mind for life. It was a day like this for me yesterday when I got to speak live, albeit virtually, to one of my favourite contemporary authors Niccolò Ammaniti. To mark the launch of the English translation of his new novel The Crossroads (my afterthoughts are here), Niccolò’s publishers Canongate Books had organised an online Q & A session. I’ve been badgering on about the event for days now, so if you read this blog then you would have known about it (sorry if I’ve bored anyone )), and it finally took place yesterday amidst much excitement at the World Literature Forum.

Due to its digital nature the experience of conversing with Niccolò may have been slightly detached, but that didn’t detract in any way from what was a phenomenal experience. It’s not every day a ‘minnow’ like me gets to speak with a real-life author and Niccolò is an absolute pleasure to speak with – gracious, polite, super intelligent and he shows no signs of the arrogance that is so prevalent in many of today’s authors. He answered a slew of questions, three of which were put forward by me, and Niccolo answered all of them patiently and thoughtfully. To catch up on all of the questions asked, and Niccolo’s responses, you’ll have to head on over to the Q & A thread at the World Literature Forum, but I’ve taken the liberty of reprinting below the questions I asked Niccolò myself (and hopefully I won’t get into too much trouble from Stewart, the forum owner, for doing so):

I asked – “The Crossroads undoubtedly rates as one of the most shocking novels I’ve read to date, both in terms of its sexual content and the level of violence, and the ‘shock factor’ is certainly more intense than anything found in your previous, and also exceptional novel I’m Not Scared. I was just wondering if this ‘writing for shock’, in the same vein as say Chuck Palahniuk, is the direction you are taking your writing now, or if the level of sexual content and violence found in The Crossroads was more of a ‘one off’?”

Niccolò replied – “Thank you Rob. The next novel is not shocking like The Crossroads, because it’s a comedy – I hope it will be funny. But in general if the story needs a shock, I will do it no problem. I don’t mind shocking my readers!”

I asked – “……I also wanted to ask you about the fascinating ‘clown iconography’ used in the interactions with Danilo. Is this an image that exists in real life? and can you briefly explain why you used this, rather than say an effigy of the Virgin Mary?”

Niccolò replied – “This is one of my favourite parts of the book. In general in Italy, they sell awful pictures with a lot of clowns – I do not know why! I started with this image, and imagined it in a huge landscape with a sad clown; it seemed to link to Danilo’s feeling at the time about his wife. At the same time it was funny though, which I also liked. The picture does not exist though obviously.”

I asked - “Your skill at creating characters is nothing short of genius (I’ve even likened your talent in this area to that of the great John Steinbeck – high praise indeed )). Do you think you are just naturally talented at creating characters or do you really have to work at it? Do you get a lot of character inspiration from ‘people watching’ or just mainly from imagination?”

Niccolò replied – “Thank you Rob! I think it is a mix of the three things – it is something very natural for me but that is never enough for a writer. You have to read a lot and understand how other writers build their books.”

So, three great answers to each of my questions and I’m delighted with the responses. As I said though, it doesn’t stop there. A whole load of questions were fired at Niccolò during the Q & A, all of which are infinitely more clever than mine, so the best thing you can do is head on over to that Q & A thread at the World Literature Forum.

All that’s left for me to do now is to pass on my thanks to Niccolò for giving up some of his valuable time to speak with his fans, to Canongate Books for organising the event in the first place, and to Stewart at the World Literature Forum for hosting the event. Your combined efforts have implanted some happy memories. Thanks!