A short while ago I was asked by Roast Books to review their new publication, Dogsbodies and Scumsters by Alan McCormick. I tend not to do “normal” book reviews, but if I like a book I do like to have a chat with the author — we writers are such weird and interesting creatures! And I really did enjoy this book of short stories. Perhaps “enjoy” is the wrong word. They are often surreal, sometimes downright creepy, but they are well-written and full of fascinating characters. Some of the stories are responses to the very imaginative drawings of Jonny Voss, and that I found to be quite refreshing as well.

illus by Jonny Voss

Alan worked in a psychiatric hospital in the 1980’s and some of the stories are inspired by this. He was recently Writer-in-Residence for the stroke charity, InterAct Reading Service.  His short stories have won numerous prizes and have been widely published and performed. Here then is the latest of my blog’s great conversations:
Sue: Many of the stories in your collection were written as a result of your being Writer-in-Residence at InterAct Reading Service. I am fascinated by this newish role of “Writer-in-Residence” in various institutions and organizations. Could you tell us a bit about InterAct, how you came to be involved with them, and whether you think the idea of being a “Writer-in-Residence” is a good one, in general, both for the writer and the organization.

Alan: InterAct’s first Chief Executive, the theatre director Caroline Smith, had nursed her sick brother, a psychiatrist, throughout a terminal illness. Although an avid Radio 4 listener when he had been fit and well, he much preferred to be read to when he became ill. Seeing its benefits first hand, she began reading herself on a voluntary basis at her local hospice and then used her theatrical expertise and contacts to set up InterAct Reading Service. Established in 2000 and working in six hospitals, the charity is led now by the playwright Nijay Mahindru and employs a team of 200 actors and works in fourteen London hospitals as well as hospitals in Birmingham, Brighton, Manchester, Stoke on Trent, Hayward’s Heath and Oldham.

Sue: One of the reasons why I was particularly drawn to your work is because of the connection with stroke victims. I have written a play called “The Bistro Down the Road” which is in development and whose central character is a stroke victim. Can you tell me what drew you to this particular ailment for your work, and what you learned about it from your own interaction with stroke victims and your writing?

Alan: Good luck with your play.
         My mother suffered a number of strokes at the end of the last Millennium. I watched her struggle with their effects, and though she had other serious health problems, the strokes not only hastened her end but caused her to suffer greatly in the process. All her life she had been an avid reader of literature, and it was music and company that gave her comfort in her final months. In the eighties I had trained to be a nurse – not a career I was really cut out for – which involved some kind of wish or need to help people who are ill. There must be some link to these experiences in my desire to become a writer for a stroke charity but in all honesty I wasn’t overtly conscious of it when I submitted my story to their competition; my main aim was to further my writing and have the opportunity to work creatively with what appeared to be, and definitely turned out to be, an ethical and innovative organisation.