‘It’s like my favourite thing to write about, queerness in rural spaces, it seems. I don’t see myself deviating from that any time soon.’

It has been two years since we last spoke to Chloe Michelle Howarth, a Rosscarbery native and author now based in Brighton. Her debut novel Sunburn was a resounding success, shortlisted for many awards including the British Book Awards’ 2024 Book of the Year. 

This week we spoke to Chloe about her life as a writer, and her new novel, Heap Earth Upon It. 

What message do you hope to communicate to readers with Heap Earth Upon It? 

‘I just want to continue to shine a light on queer people in rural spaces, especially in rural Ireland because I feel like we don’t get like much representation, but it’s the same as anywhere: it’s going to be crawling with queer people. Queerness in Ireland isn’t going away and so I think I’m going to continue to write these stories. I’m not going away either.’

I read a review that described the novel as ‘raw claustrophobic repression. Would you agree with this portrayal?

‘Repression is probably one of the main themes of the book. Definitely like, the repression of queerness by society, but also the repression of women. Women’s roles in 1960s Ireland were quite different to what they are now. Also, the repression of emotion. The main characters in this book have a lot of feelings, and they just refuse to deal with their feelings, so it’s like every form of repression you can imagine.’

What inspired this new novel? 

‘Loads of things really. I don’t really have a succinct answer to that question yet. My initial thing was, I wanted to do the opposite of Sunburn, so I basically thought what is the colour palette of Sunburn? And just opposite. It’s wintertime, it’s dark, it’s raining all the time in this little universe. That was like my kind of way in. And then I wanted to write about different types of longing that maybe aren’t just necessarily romantic longing. I can’t really say too much without spoiling it but there’s a lot of longing and yearning in this book that is explored in different ways that aren’t necessarily romantic.’

The novel is set in 1960s Ireland and follows four siblings who arrive mysteriously to the small village of Ballycrea. Can you tell us a bit more?

‘Jack Anna and Tom are all in their mid to late twenties, and Peggy is 11, so there’s a big age gap. Their dynamics are very complicated and I can’t say too much about why they end up in this village, because that’s all part of it. But yeah, they really have a lot of issues with the family hierarchy, who’s in control, and who wants control. They very much put each other into roles that they’re not necessarily looking to take on.’

Is there a character that you are most attached to? 

‘I think I am quite attached to all of them. Like there’s a lot of evil in this book, and I’ve never really written that type of character before. And even when finding all the evil in these characters, I still had a lot of love for them. There’s no goodies and baddies. The depth of evil that one character has, there’s something redeeming about them. They all have a special place in my heart, and I probably do have an order in which I’d put them but I think it would give it away if I said that.’ 

Did your experience of writing this novel differ from your debut? 

‘It was different in that, I wrote Sunburn in West Cork during lockdown, and I wrote this in my flat in England like, while I was doing a 9-to-5 office job at the same time, so the actual practical experience of it was quite different. It’s quite different subject matter and it was refreshing to do something different.’

How has your writing style developed? 

‘I’ve tried to develop a practice but it’s difficult, because I learned that you can’t be creative 9-to-5; well I can’t anyway. You kind of have to allow it to come, when it comes. I’m always scrolling back on my iCloud looking for pictures of little boreens and stuff near my house that will give me some inspiration. I think I’ve gotten better at refining, which I wasn’t amazing at with Sunburn. This has been helpful, because it means you do less ‘killing your darlings’ later on.’ 

How was your experience of showcasing at West Cork Literary Festival?

‘That was literally, like, the best experience that I’ve had. I couldn’t believe it when I got the email that they wanted me to go. I was so happy. It was amazing, and it was just so nice especially  as I’m living away from West Cork now. In my mind I’m like, that’s home and this is work, and they don’t really mix but then I was like, here I am doing my author thing in West Cork. It was just such a ‘pinch me’ thing.’ 

What would you say your purpose is as an artist?

‘To provide broader queer representation. I just enjoy writing about the queer Irish experience, and I enjoy creating characters who you don’t necessarily think of straight away when you think of places like small towns in Ireland. I want to just raise awareness that we’re here.’

Heap Earth Upon It is now available to buy nationally.