Featured Interview With Howard Robinson
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a full time marketer, who co-owns a small public relations consultancy in London. In my writing, I always try to take ordinary people and place them in extraordinary situations and then play around with the way they would respond. I think it brings out the megalomaniac in me. My first novel, The Bitterest Pill, was published in 2003, my second, ‘Micah, Seven Five’ in June 2014 and my most recent one, ‘The Sixth Republic’, was published in November 2015. I am currently at work on a fourth, tentatively entitled “Know Your Own Darkness”. I live in North East London with my wife; two children; Tilly, the chocolate Labrador, and a giant black rabbit called Mumford.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I started writing almost as soon as I was able to….at first they tended to be dodgy poems at primary school and then short stories that seemed to win the approval of my teachers. It went hand in hand with my love of reading especially the magical worlds created by the likes of Roald Dahl. Charlie & The Chocolate Factory is still one of my favourite reads. I did a Modern History degree, which taught me the importance of structure in writing and of exploring language, although it ruined my ability to read for pleasure for quite some time. Over the years, my career in PR has given me the opportunity to write on the broadest possible range of subjects. All of this has been essential in being able to develop and adapt different styles for different audiences.
First and foremost I try to create stories that I would enjoy reading, to explore situations and emotions safely within the confines of the page. I want to create worlds and characters with whom I can identify and sympathise. And if I can, then I figure that the chances are that other people might do too.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I don’t really have a particular favourite genre; I really enjoy good writing, interesting concepts and stories that hold my attention. I tend to stray off the best seller lists and look for interesting pieces that other people may not find. I really like John Boyne’s books – everyone should read The Absolutionist. I enjoyed Look Who’s Back by Timur Vermes and The Obituary Writer by Lauren St John. But equally, I enjoy Hardy and Dickens as much as I do Ken Follett, JG Ballard and Jeffery Archer.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Given the fluidity of politics in Europe at the moment, I wanted to explore what happens when the country you have always called home decides you’re not welcome anymore. The Sixth Republic imagines what life might be like in France under a future Far Right President – as told through the stories of a series of different families.
It begins with France having elected her first Far Right President, Marianne Mercier, who wastes no time in moving to create a nation only for those she deems to be “authentically French”. This includes the closing of France’s borders, the imposition of bans on ethnic minorities and the creation of guarded communes in remote parts of the country to which all members of ethnic communities must be sent.
The novel explores the implications of such moves for those labelled the enemy within – people like young Muslim woman Inura Badour, her parents and her partner or Jewish teacher Andre Saloman and his family, including his grandmother Mathilde, who had been a member of the French Resistance during World War Two.
The plot continues in the United Kingdom, where admirers of the new French President are poised to engineer a similar scenario. The rise of the National Independence Party and its leader Hugo Sherriden threatens anyone deemed undesirable by virtue of colour, religion or sexuality. But amid the darkness, there is always hope that tolerance can win out over extremism.
I wanted to imagine what it would feel like to be living in and close to one of Europe’s largest and greatest nations at a time when neighbour is turned against neighbour, friend against friend and racism becomes the law.
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