By Tara Maher
The book follows the story of Oisín who is looking to rebuild a life in Ireland and reconnect with his mother Brigid, who has early onset Alzheimer's. As her condition deteriorates she starts to speak Irish, the language of her youth and reflects on her childhood dreams and aspirations. Mother and son embark on a journey of personal discovery and as past traumas are exposed, they begin to understand what has shaped them and who they really are.
The Language of Remembering asks how we connect to the people we love and how we move on from the past to find meaning from the present.
The intertwining of language and identity has been a passion for Holloway for a long time, and this story originates from previous writings of his; a book of poetry he wrote as part of his PhD in Creative writing and a short story he wrote about a son learning to connect with his mother.
“I am very character-driven in my writing,” Patrick Holloway told The Carrigdhoun how he loves the unpredictability that comes with developing his beloved protagonists.
He never intended to write the book from Brigid’s point of view but revealed that when he sat down to write, “her voice never left”.
As a result, the story oscillates between Oisin's point of view in the present day and his mother Brigid's upbringing. Holloway believes the dual point of view adds an emotional element to the story as we see a stark contrast in Brigid’s dreams and how reality has unfolded in front of her.
Patrick, who is a past pupil of Coláiste Muire, Crosshaven, admitted he wasn't the best student but credited his love of literature and writing to his English teacher Ms. Colette Murphy, who always encouraged him to pursue his gifts.
Growing up in a village as picturesque as Crosshaven, it was hard for him not to draw inspiration from his hometown, “the book deals a lot with the idea of home, and a lot of it is set in Crosshaven. It also deals with the draw of the sea, which is something that always calls me back. Crosshaven very much inspired the setting of the book.”
Following second level education, he moved to Scotland to study Journalism and English in the University of Stirling and received a Masters in Creative Writing in the University of Glasgow before undertaking a Ph.D. in the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.
Patrick has a number of literary awards to his name, notably the The 2023 Bath Short Story Prize, The Molly Keane Creative Writing Competition, The Flash 500 Prize, and the Allingham Fiction Prize, among others. He was selected by Alexander MacLeod as a Seán Ó Faoláin Mentee in 2023 and was highly commended for the Seán Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition. He was the writer selected for the 2023 Paul McVeigh Residency.
Holloway's debut comes at a time when Irish literary fiction has the world at its feet, and to have his name amongst the greats has been an honour for him.
Donal Ryan is one writer Holloway spoke fondly of and recalled his delight when Ryan said he would endorse the book.
Speaking about the Irish writing community, Patrick reveals the desire and hunger to see one another succeed: "the Irish writing community is great. Everyone is so supportive and inclusive." When asked if it was a competitive field, he said: "it is, but in a good way, everyone strives for one another to do better."
Holloway discussed the importance of resilience in his and so many other Irish writers careers, and said it is what separates the successful writers from the unsuccessful ones. Budding writers often believe that the path to getting a novel published is linear but Patrick recalled all the “no’s”, the setbacks and obstacles that he faced, and that the destination is worth the difficult journey.
Patrick is an editor of Cork’s Literary Magazine The Four Faced Liar which receives thousands of entries, and with a limit on the number of entries they can accept, the odds are often stacked against you. “Just because a piece isn’t accepted, doesn't mean it's bad or you're a bad writer. Writing is an art that can take time, you just have to practise and try again.”
In the writing world, you have to be bold, take risks and go after what you want. It's not an industry that favours the lethargic. Seeing his books in bookshops has always been a dream of Patricks, as it is for every writer.
He has been published in countless literary journals, and when he saw Louise Kennedy, a writer whom he’d been published alongside be picked up by équope press, Patrick reached out to her literary agent, Elenor Byrne.
Eleanor requested writing samples, so Patrick sent over 50 pages of his novel. “The ball got rolling very fast” and Patrick revealed that the book was given the go ahead within a few days. “It's a very stop-start process but when things start happening, it happens very fast.”
Getting to hold his very own book in his hands has been a surreal experience, and at the time of this interview, Patrick has been going through the novel with a fine tooth comb to make sure it's perfect ahead of its release next February 27th in Waterstones.
But if you can’t wait until then, Patrick’s short story 'Checked Luggage' will be the Irish Examiner’s Christmas Short Story, and it'll be out the Saturday before Christmas.
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