Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1462122
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 MARCH 2022 7 BOOKS When you published your latest novel The Raptures (Dou- bleday) earlier this year you tweeted that, despite the title, it was not the end of the world. Have the past few weeks shak- en that conviction? The title The Raptures refers to the concept of "the Rapture" in evangelical Protestant the- ology. Just before the end of the world, those who are born- again believers will be taken directly into heaven so they don't have to endure the suffer- ing that will take place during the end times. With the pan- demic, the climate crisis and the threat of war all over the world, it's hard not to feel a lit- tle apocalyptic. Though, if it's any comfort, I've been keeping an eye on the most evangelical Christians I know and none of them appear to have been 'rap- tured' yet. In response to the war in Ukraine you were quick to organise a fundraising evening in Belfast with the participation of Northern Irish writers. What do you think literature can do in response to such calamities? I don't necessarily think that literature can fix anything in terms of calamities like the one currently taking place in Ukraine. However, I do think art can provide a rallying point for us to come together form- ing community and giving en- couragement. I think art can allow us a window into under- standing a culture or situation we may not be familiar with. Art can provoke incredible amounts of empathy and, in my experience, empathising with an other's situation makes it much harder to ignore the problem or claim it has nothing to do with us. I've just been lis- tening to an interview with the poet Kaveh Akbar and I really loved the way he put it: poetry can help orientate us towards what is right. This is not the first time you've been invited to Malta - in 2020 you were set to appear at the Mediterranean Literature Festival before COVID derailed travel plans. Now seemingly at the tail-end of things, how have the pandemic years been for you? The pandemic was definitely a game of two halves for me. During the first period I rest- ed, I read a lot, I wrote furious- ly and felt like I'd been given a period of grace to catch up with myself after a few years of frantic travel and back to back publications. Sadly, during the second period, my father be- came very ill and subsequently passed away. The grief left me absolutely exhausted and in- capable of thinking creatively. I'm only now, six months after his death, beginning to nurture little fledgling ideas for new projects. Writing has always been my coping mechanism and it felt really unsettling not to have this to rely upon during the grieving period. Returning to The Raptures – which has been praised for its handling of the multi-layered tale of a mystery illness at its heart – is it fair to think that it's been inspired by the same pandemic, or is the setting of parochial Northern Ireland in the early 1990s a sign that it's been simmering for much longer? I'm a little scared to admit this – I fear I might have a prophetic gift of some sort. The manuscript was actually completed in November 2019, months before Covid 19 be- gan to significantly impact the world. In another strange twist of fate, some of the scenes in my previous novel, The Fire Starters, were eerily similar to the riots which broke out in spring 2021, a full two years af- ter its publication. I will be very careful what I write next. Religion is a theme which appears in works like The Last Resort (Doubleday), and which is arguably influenced by your own evangelical upbringing. As someone with an intimate understanding of these com- munities, what is it that you'd like 'outsiders' to understand, and what are the elements you insist on criticising? The Raptures, in particu- lar, took me almost a decade to write because it is so firm- ly focused upon the evangeli- cal community I grew up in. I wanted to write a nuanced ac- count of this world which was both celebratory of things like how safe and loved I felt grow- ing up, but also fairly critical of aspects of this community which are hypocritical, outdat- ed or just downright wrong. I was keen to write a book which would begin a conversation rather than a conflict. I hope I've achieved that, painting a picture of a Protestant faith which is complex and various, which is both steeped in hospi- tality and generosity, but also not particularly progressive in its attitude towards women or anyone who is perceived to be different in any way. Jan Carson will be sitting for an interview with Leanne Ellul and participating in a book-club session with UM students led by Prof. James Corby on Wednesday 23 March. Carson will be return- ing on Thursday 24 March for an exchange with fellow EUPL laureate Lara Calleja moderated by Robert Pisani. The participation of Jan Car- son at the Campus Book Fes- tival is supported by Creative Europe Desk Malta. Irish EUPL winner and magic realist author Jan Carson will be the special guest at Kampus Kotba - the 2022 Campus Book Festival 2022 Campus Book Festival: 'Community, encouragement and empathy' - Jan Carson