Michelle Gallen: ‘My wee brother told me I’m not even the funniest person in our family’

Congratulations, Michelle, on being shortlisted for a second time for the Comedy Women in Print Prize for Factory Girls. Does humour come naturally to you or do you have to work at it?

I like to think I’m naturally hilarious. But when I told my wee brother about my second CWIP nomination, he told me I’m not even the funniest person in our family, never mind the UK and Ireland.

Kathy Burke bought the TV rights to your debut Big Girl, Small Town after hearing Jane Garvey rave about it on Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio and loving being inside Majella’s “beautifully unique head”. What’s the latest?

In the first instance, I felt super lucky to have even sold the TV rights at all, never mind to Kathy Burke and Lookout Point. So, when the team asked me to take a lead role in the script writing process – despite my lack of screenwriting experience – I couldn’t quite believe it. Adapting the book has meant treading a fine line between being faithful to a quiet literary work while ticking all the boxes for an unmissable TV series. I have loved every minute of the process. I can’t quite give a full update on progress right now but hope I’ll be able to share some exciting news on the series soon!

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Any news relating to Factory Girls beyond the CWIP award?

Yes! Award-winning Irish company Deadpan Productions snapped up the rights to the TV series. I’ve been working with the amazing Ailish McElmeel, Aisling Kiely and Sam Atwell to adapt the book for TV. Ailish and myself both worked summer jobs in factories so we’re having a great time recreating some explosive emotions and exploiting 90′s music, fashion and energy for TV.

You’re a graduate of the Irish Writers Centre Novel Fair. What was that like?

It’s described as the Dragon’s Den for Irish publishing and I think that fits. I’d just moved back to Ireland and I knew the novel fair was exactly what I needed in terms of getting my novel in front of the key players in the Irish and UK publishing scene. I polished up my first draft, sent in the 10,000-word sample and was thrilled to learn I was a finalist. Being a finalist is, of course, an amazing achievement in and of itself. On the pitch day, we had just 10 minutes to pitch to 15 agents and publishers in a “speed dating” environment. I loved every second of that day as that’s where I met Becky Walsh, my editor in John Murray, and Marianne Gunn O’Connor, who became my agent. I love the way the Irish novel fair not only offers authors who have a compelling manuscript an excellent platform, it puts you in a s**t or get off the pot situation – you really do have to up your game and just put your book – and yourself – out there.

An Arts Council of Ireland bursary enabled you to step back from tech work and focus on finishing Factory Girls. How well does the State support writers? How could things improve?

It seems to me the State does a good job of offering bursaries to artists, though it’s my impression there’s never enough bursaries to meet the demand. And artists don’t just need financial support: we need affordable venues in which to meet, create, collaborate and perform. And like every other Irish citizen, we need access to affordable, secure housing, decent healthcare, good schools and safe streets. The Government is most definitely failing on the secure housing front – I cannot imagine how any young artist pays Dublin rent these days or how even so-called “successful” writers can ever dream of having a mortgage. Of course, this isn’t all the State’s responsibility. I think billionaire publishing companies should do a better job of developing and paying the authors who may make them millions in direct revenue.

What projects are you working on?

Apart from TV writing, I’m in the process of rewriting my third novel to weave in a storyline I have decided I’m brave (or stupid) enough to tackle. And I’m halfway through writing a really dark, quirky and fun book set in the North in the 1980s, featuring a death-obsessed little girl who forms a crush on a recent arrival to her claustrophobic small town. I also have a memoir on the go. And a house renovation. And the menopause. And a nervous breakdown ...

[ Colm Tóibín to publish sequel to Brooklyn next year ]

What is the best writing advice you have heard?

“Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck but most of all, endurance” – James Baldwin

You are supreme ruler for a day. Which law do you pass or abolish?

Universal income for absolutely everyone, forever.

Your most treasured possession?

The sense of perspective that I have slowly gained through the years.

The best and worst things about where you live?

I live in Dublin 8. Best thing is the people. The worst thing is the traffic.

What is your favourite quotation?

“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.” Misattributed to Einstein.

Who is your favourite fictional character?

Oh, it’s totally that little kid Bernard who gets ignored by his parents in the picture book Not Now Bernard and is eaten by a monster and they don’t even notice.

A book that might move me to tears?

The last book I wept buckets over was the Polite Act of Drowning by Charleen Hurtubise. It’s lyrical and heartbreaking and dredged stuff up from inside me that had been a long time submerged. A stunning debut.

Factory Girls is out in paperback next month. The Comedy Women in Print Prize will be announced at the Groucho Club in London on April 17th.