How agreeable are you?
I tend to be optimistic and pretty positive until I have a reason not to be. And then it’s a thunderstorm, it’s Armageddon. It becomes apocalyptic when I’m unhappy. However, most of the time, I’m easy-going and good natured. My nature changes if I witness other people being cruel to people who don’t deserve it. If I see someone being bullied, I’m going to get involved.
What is your middle name and what do you think of it?
My middle name is Eliza, and my mother loved calling me that. When I got older, I began to use Eliza as part of my professional name so that I could hear it in the kind of way she would speak to me. That’s why I use it.
Where is your favourite place in Ireland?
I’ve never been to Ireland, so when I’m there in June for the Dalkey Book Festival, it will be my first time, and Dalkey will be the first place I will get to experience the country.
Describe yourself in three words.
Radiant. Complicated. And ... Oh, my gosh, I just woke up with no coffee taken yet. Let’s see ... Caring. Radiant for me is about light, literal light, and being a photographer and a writer, the quality of light in other people and in myself is something that interests me at all times. Complicated? When I think about my inner life, it’s complicated, with a lot of landscapes, maps and stories in it. And caring is about a generosity, a spirit. I care deeply that other people are not in pain and have a right to a full life, dignity and laughter. I care about what happens to this world, this environment, our stories and how we’re progressing. We’re not doing very well as human beings right now, but I care about who’s coming after us and what they’re going to have to deal with.
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When did you last get angry?
There’s a certain level of anger I feel every time I look at a breaking news headline and see what other debased things are happening in the world. But sometimes it’s local. Recently, walking down a sidewalk in New York, I saw a man kind of yelling at a woman in a way that made me flip out. I can’t walk by and pretend I don’t see that. I don’t care what she did or anything, just don’t do it. Then I had to remember it’s New York City, but at the same time, I have to speak up.
What have you lost that you would like to have back?
Oh, wow. My mother.
What is your strongest childhood memory?
One of my strongest memories is knowing when I was young that I was a writer. My father had this sky-blue Smith Corona typewriter. You had to plug it in, and after a while, it got quite hot, and I would hold it on my lap like it was a cat or a spaceship. I remember being a child in the joy of listening to the typewriter hammers, and I could see words forming on a piece of paper. Those times of writing out stories and dreams in my head were really beautiful. One of my other strongest memories, a very bright memory, is being in the kitchen helping my mother, cooking for our family of six, and learning how to make bread.
Where do you come in your family’s birth order, and has this defined you?
I’m the eldest of four siblings, with two brothers and one sister, all two years apart, and it does affect me. Growing up when you’re the eldest, and a daughter, there’s a set of rules that apply to you that are distinct from, say, my youngest sibling, my sister. My parents were exhausted by the time she came along, but with me, it was a very vigorous, rigid and strict Catholic household. It was different for me growing up, but the eldest daughter in a family of six is special, and I took that gift seriously.
[ Dalkey Book Festival: Salman Rushdie among authors announced in line-upOpens in new window ]
When I was growing up, my mother had a chronic illness, so from around the age of 11, I had to cook and clean, help my mother, go to the hospital, and get good grades in school. In between all of those things, I read everything I could. It was a pretty intense childhood.
What do you expect to happen when you die?
In 2014, when my mother died, I was holding one of her hands, and I thought that she had just given me another gift, which is that I’m now not afraid to die. She looked like a little girl; her whole face, it changed. I guess I don’t wonder what happens beyond death, except that maybe it will complete my experience of being a human being. That said, I tend to stay in the present. I just want to focus on living.
When were you happiest?
I’m very happy when I’m creating art, when I’m hanging out with my husband [writer Salman Rushdie] and when I’m with my friends and my friendships. I try to have some happiness every day if I can. I’ve gone through so much that the simplest things make me happy. I don’t take things for granted.
Which actor would play you in a biopic about your life?
Maybe Jeffrey Wright? His eyes are so expressive that I feel like he would be able to understand how much of my personality is in my eyes. He is one of my favourite actors, so, yes, I would pick him.
What is your biggest career/personal regret?
I think my career is just beginning, so I don’t have regrets about that yet. I mean, I have experienced failure, but I don’t mind that because I learn things from it. Personal regrets include not asking my mother questions about herself, and that I didn’t get to have conversations with her at the age I am now. I was so shy, however, that I wouldn’t have dared to ask her because she was so formidable. Even if I had questions, I would feel I was, in a way, violating her privacy.
Have you any psychological quirks?
I have a kaleidoscope of quirks, but here are a couple. If I have a glass of water and someone drinks out of it or asks to drink out of it, I can no longer drink out of it; I’m done with it. And I cannot abide certain ways in which people chew their food, even if their mouths are closed. I just can’t. I thought I was insane, but I read an article about it – it’s called misophonia. Sometimes, even the sound of my own mouth chewing – I’m like, God … Yet when I see horses chew, I get it. By my own standard, it would be revolting, but they’re so beautiful I’m, like, well, horses chewing is the best thing to watch. Hmm ... I’ll save this one for my therapist.
As part of the Dalkey Book Festival, Rachel Eliza Griffiths is in conversation with Madeleine Keane on Sunday, June 21st, Cuala, 2pm.
In conversation with Tony Clayton-Lea
