Chris Killen

Chris Killen (b. 1981) is the author of The Bird Room, out this month in the UK from Canongate and next spring in the U.S. from Harper Perennial. He lives in Manchester and blogs at Day of Moustaches. Tao Lin interviewed him for MobyLives via email:

Tao Lin: Having worked at Waterstone’s what differences in bookstores in New York City did you notice as compared to bookstores in Manchester?

Chris Killen: It seemed like they were polarised — the chain bookstores (I guess I only went in Barnes & Noble, but I went in three different ones) seemed very focused on ‘mainstream’ things and ‘glitz’, while the independents were more interested in promoting/displaying small press titles, ‘cult’ fiction, etc.

In Britain, Waterstone’s and Borders (the two biggest chain bookstores) sort of try and balance the two, to some degree, and it always feels a bit strange and awkward. And the independent bookshops here (I’m thinking of the ones in Manchester) just seem like scaled down, not-very-exciting versions of Waterstone’s; Waterstone’s with less stock.

Lin: What is your perception of the “American” literary scene, from having visited New York City once, about a year ago?

Killen: New York City was very big, there were a lot of people there, and when I came to visit I didn’t factor in the scale/amount of people who aren’t interested in ‘literary things’.

I was imagining going to Greenwich Village or wherever and there being a ‘gigantic’ literary scene. It was a bit surprising to see the number of people at the KGB reading (around 50-60?). I was expecting more than that. But then I guess there are more literary events happening simultaneously in New York City; the literary scene divided, maybe, into different little ‘pockets’.

So, um, ‘large but fractured’?

Chris Killen's The Bird Room is forthcoming from Canongate in the UK, and Harper Perennial in the US

Also, I had the vague feeling that the ‘average bookshelf’ in a person’s apartment in New York would contain more interesting (to me) books than one in Manchester, but also that people in NYC are just a bit more quiet and normal about reading; that it isn’t considered something of an anomaly or something to talk in a loud voice about all the time. They just ‘get on with it’ in a gentle way. I don’t know.

Lin: In the UK what is the level of interest, in your view, of other European authors? What European country has the most literary influence, to you, on the UK, and how does it compare to America’s level of literary influence on the UK?

Killen: From my experience — working in Waterstone’s (we had a separate ‘Fiction in Translation’ section) and talking to people in publishing — it seems like the UK is not especially interested in reading other European fiction. The exception is if a European author wins a big prize of some sort, or is very famous (Bulgakov, Borges, Sartre, etc.).

But, in my opinion, literary influence here comes more from other British writing and American writing. People buy a lot more American and UK authors than other European ones, I think.

Lin: Can you type one sentence each about every Knut Hamsun novel you have read?

Killen: Hunger: Very focussed on irrationality and the way the mind works.

Mysteries: The most experimental and ‘all over the place’ one, in my opinion.

Pan: My favourite Hamsun novel, and the one where I feel all the separate, interesting elements of his fiction ‘work’ together the best.

Victoria: short and simply-written, but focussing on an intense and complex relationship.

Dreamers: A bit like a fable; kind of ‘lightweight’.

A Wanderer Plays on Muted Strings: Two long, almost-connected, rambling stories about some men walking around in the olden days (very ‘rural’).

The Last Joy: I don’t remember very much about this one; I think it was set in a holiday resort.

Growth of the Soil: the ‘grandest’ and most epic-feeling of Hamsun’s novels — I liked it a lot (even though I don’t usually like ‘epic’ things).

The Women at the Pump: recognisable elements of his earlier style (Mysteries, Pan, Victoria), but with a larger cast of characters and done a bit like a play.