Interview with an Author: Christina Neuwirth

How did you get into writing?

I was a big reader as a child; my Mum taught at my primary school and often after my lessons were over she would have paperwork to finish, and so I would wait in the school library and work my way through the shelves. I have also always kept diaries, and written things down as a way of experiencing them – or trying to pin down a feeling or a memory. During my undergraduate degree in English, I participated in NaNoWriMo, which I saw you had an article about in a previous issue of Continue The Voice – it was a major catalyst for me to feel writing a long form story is an achievable goal. After that I moved to Edinburgh to do a Masters in Creative Writing, and one of the most valuable things about that was making connections with other writers, and feeling like I was really committing to my writing.

What inspired the idea to write ‘Amphibian’? A story so full of wit, excitement and yet also banalities of the everyday workplace in a way that is done so poignantly.

Thank you, that’s so nice to hear about your reading experience! The idea came from something my flatmate said one summer’s day in 2014: she pointed out the reflection of the blue sky in a glassy high-rise building and said, ‘that looks like they’ve filled the building with water.’ I couldn’t stop thinking about that, and I asked her whether I could try to write a story around that idea, and she said yes. I also started from a feeling of wanting the water to feel… ordinary and real, not a metaphor. I kept returning to the opening sequence of the children’s cartoon, ‘Norman Normal’, which goes something like ‘the day the microwave exploded I was in my room reading comics, now my family are superheroes and I’m just… normal’. My first draft of ‘Amphibian’ starts like this: ‘The day the office flooded we had a big meeting. So you can imagine that the flood came as a massive inconvenience.’

The way you play on words and use irony such as the idea of ‘going under’ in business leading to literally going under water, and Rose looking for jobs on a boat in her past Google searches. Have you always been amused or intrigued by playing on words and irony?

That’s such a good question! I have always really enjoyed playing with language. In German, my first language, one thing I love doing in my writing is to make a noun into a verb (‘they were autumning’) or otherwise play with grammatical categories. When I first moved to Edinburgh nearly eight years ago I found, like many second language speakers, that my personality is very different in English; I found it quite hard to be funny or to have quick responses to things, so it’s been a big learning experience. I think my delight about playing with words comes from that perspective of being a learner.

I love the use of emails and text messages throughout this novella and like to think they are modern day letters. What made you decide to include them in your narrative?

Novels told in letters are some of my very favourite things, for example ‘Love, Rosie’ by Cecelia Ahern (which I read at 16 and have re-read a bunch of times since then), and the German book ‘Gut gegen Nordwind’ by Daniel Glattauer, which is about two people who accidentally start emailing each other. They inspired me to try to be really ‘in the moment’ with Rose in ‘Amphibian’, through seeing her compose emails and thinking about her word choice, and to receive information at the time that she’s receiving it; when she gets emails from her boss, that’s also when we get the information.

What was your favourite part of writing this novella (if you had to choose)? I think my favourite part was the boozy lunch that

Rose has with her friends! But I also really enjoyed writing Rose and Siobhan and their relationship at the office, and how that changes throughout the book. For me those moments of connection is where the tension in the book comes from, from what you can and can’t tell people in your life, what is left unsaid, and how you allow other people to be there for you.

What is something you’d like to continue the voice on?

It’s LGBTQ+ History Month in February. I would like to lend my support to trans youth by highlighting the organisations LGBT Youth Scotland, Gendered Intelligence and Mermaids. I also want to shout about the work of the Bi/Pan Library, who host an archive of bisexual, pansexual and fluid books and other media. You can find them on Instagram. Also: Category is Books in Glasgow is a brilliant queer bookshop, and Lighthouse Bookshop in Edinburgh is fantastic and queer-owned, and both bookshops do home delivery!

The theme of this month’s issue is letters, so what do letters mean to you?

I love writing them and receiving them, I think there’s something really moving about knowing that that person has touched that piece of paper, if that makes sense! In the past year particularly I’ve exchanged a lot of letters with friends who live near and far, it’s just a different way of spending time with each other.

Where can our readers find you and what’s next for your writing?

I’m on Instagram (although I don’t post much at the moment, but when I do you’ll see it there!) and my website. I’m working on a PhD thesis on gender equality in contemporary Scottish writing and publishing, and I’m also working on a novel at the moment (and have been for seven years – it’s going okay! I am trying to be patient).

Interview By Kirsty Taylor