My Anne Tyler Moment, by Jennie Walters

Christchurch College, Oxford

My favourite author in the whole world is Anne Tyler, so when I heard she was giving her first interview for 37 years at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival, I was first in line to buy my ticket. At the last minute, I suddenly worried she wouldn't live up to my expectations, that for some reason I'd be disappointed, and my devotion to her books would be tarnished as a result. Anyway, surely an author's work should speak for itself; what she's like as a person is immaterial. Why did I want to see her, when what mattered to me was her writing? I was curious, I suppose, and wanted my own personal image of Anne Tyler, some mysterious essence not divulged in her books. Maybe I also wanted to make an impression on her myself, try to communicate some of the pleasure her books have given me over the years. Walking into the Sheldonian shortly before the talk was due to begin, I passed a slim, grey-haired woman waiting outside who glanced at me briefly. I looked into her expressive, intelligent dark eyes - and that was it, my Anne Tyler moment. She was probably thinking about the interview ahead and hardly noticed me but, for a few seconds, we connected. That image of her is all mine. I still can't work out why it should be so significant, but it is, and I'll keep it in my head when I re-read her books.

For other Anne Tyler fans, here are a few more mundane facts I learned about her from the interview:

She's an obsessive reviser. She has a box file of index cards with character notes and situations and when she's starting a novel, she sits with these cards and a blank sheet of paper for a month (always a month) before she starts to write. She writes her first draft in longhand, then types the novel on to a computer, expanding every paragraph ('like knitting a novel'). She then prints it out and revises it all over again in longhand. She records this revised draft on to a tape which she reads aloud, in front of her computer screen, correcting the computerised version and making even more revisions as she goes along. She loves being in the middle of a novel, rather than beginning or end.

Her favourite character is Ezra, from 'Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant', which is her favourite book.

She doesn't want to do too much promotion because she feels there's a writing elf inside her which goes into a sulk if she talks too much.

She has two poems on the wall of her study, one by John Updike on writing and 'Walking to Sleep' by Richard Wilbur, which begins:
'As a queen sits down, knowing that a chair will be there,
Or a general raises his hand and is given the field glasses,
Step off assuredly into the blank of your mind.
Something will come to you.'

She's had the same ('non-intrusive') editor for all of her books, who's just retired.

She has completed all these laborious writing and revising steps for one novel and then not released it for publication, on the advice of her agent.

She has no life beyond writing.

One of the most interesting questions after the interview came from a woman who summed up what many of us seemed to feel when she said Anne Tyler's books had been such a solace to her over the years, and she'd frequently had to stop reading to consider a particular thought that helped her by its truth to deal with life. Had the author herself been consoled by formulating and expressing these truths? To which the answer was no, not rea.

I needn't have worried - I liked Anne Tyler tremendously. If I hadn't, I would still love her books, but how could the person who'd written them be anything other than thoughtful, humane, wise and compassionate? I'll remember this weekend for a long time. It's been perfect: on Saturday, Gavin Stamp talking about Lutyens country houses and William Boyd discussing his new novel, then overnight with an old and dear friend in her cottage (complete with Lab in front of the Aga - see above) in the idyllic village of Blewbury (see below); on Sunday, Oxford sparkling in the sunshine - and my Anne Tyler moment. Who could ask for anything more....

Have you met your literary idol? And if so, how was it for you?

Jennie Walters
http://www.jenniewalters.com