"Aged 15 or 16, I found some of the priests sexually attractive, they had a way about them . . . a sexual allure which is a difficult thing to talk about because its usually meant to be the opposite way round. Boys like me, aged 15 -- if one of them had . . . yeah, it would have been absolutely no problem for me aged 15. It didnt happen, but it wouldnt have been a problem."
Colm Tóibín is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet.
"I went to a friend whos a girl and asked her, Whats it like to have sex for the first time, if youre Irish – so youre modest, and its the 1950s – so youve never seen it in a film? I listened carefully to what she said, and I put it in the book. It was an important element, the detail was richly memorable for the person, it had to be in the book."
Colm Tóibín"I was the worst barman who ever lived. My pints of Guinness were unholy."
Colm Tóibín"I have a rule that I dont drink in New York because I dont want to wake up with a hangover and not be able to work."
Colm Tóibín"If a storyteller came up to me, Id run away."
Colm Tóibín"I was brought up in a house where there was a great deal of silence."
Colm Tóibín"I wanted to be a poet as a child and I have a wall in my study dedicated to poetry books, all in alphabetical order, that reminds me daily of my failure."
Colm Tóibín