Posted by Sue Leonard on Saturday 12th December 2015
Emma was brought up in a house full of books. Her father, a solicitor, wrote some legal textbooks, and in the sixties he wrote plays which were performed in the Abbey Theatre. Emma didn’t write as a child, but she was the class clown and was always telling stories.
“I was very rebellious at my convent school,” she says. “I couldn’t wait to get away, and I wasn’t interested in going to college.”
She worked as a motorbike courier in Dublin before leaving Ireland and travelling.
“I lived in squats in London, then lived in America, waitressing and fruit picking. Then I decided to go to college. I studied IT.”
Qualified, she worked in Brazil and Portugal, where she became pregnant, so it was home to have the baby.
“We moved back 11 years ago, and built a house near my parents.”
Emma was inspired to write her book when she read How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran.
“I thought it was about time someone wrote about Irish women. I wrote the book at night, over two years.”
Who is Emma Comerford
Date of birth: 12th April 1968 in Galway.
Education: Dominican Convent in Galway.
Home: Shores of Lough Corrib.
Family: Husband Pat, sons Paddy 11 and Rían 4.
The Day Job: Project manager in IT, for an American Company in Galway.j
Interests: “I’m on the go all the time. We go to gigs a lot, and do stuff with the kids. I love art too. I studied it for six months.”
Favourite Writers: Kevin Barry; Anne Enright: Colin Barrett; David Sedaris: Irving Walsh.
Second Novel: There will be a second book; I’m juggling ideas.
Top Tip: Put a swear word in the title of your book!
Web: www.emmalmcomerford.wordpress.com
Twitter: @elmcom
The Debut: Irish Bitches Be Crazy €9.99 Kindle: €8.30
An irreverent resume of everything you ever wanted to know about Irish women, from beauty regimes, to attending funerals; told as part expose and part a how to guide. How many people can you tell when you are sworn to secrecy?
“There’s a lot of me in the book. I’m intentionally provocative and madly generalising; the book is not meant to offend.”
The Verdict: A stylish funny read; perfect for Christmas.
Published in The Irish Examiner on 12th December, 2015
© Sue Leonard 2015