'Everybody has a story to tell': Irish author Sinead Moriarty inspires Seoul readers

Irish author Sinead Moriarty speaks during a book talk at the Seoul Metropolitan Library in Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Kim Se-jeong

Are you an avid reader who dreams of writing but doesn’t know where to begin?

Renowned Irish author Sinead Moriarty has simple advice: “Everybody has a story to tell. so just write. I mean just sit down and just see what comes out. You don't have to have a big plan. You don't have to have an amazing original fantastical idea. Just write what you're interested in saying and you will be amazed what comes out. It's just about exercising the creative muscle.”

She also offered a practical tip: “When you wake up and you're still not fully awake — you're still kind of a little bit asleep — just sit down and write and just see what comes out because you don't have time to think about it or process it and that can be a great way to start. That's an exercise that lots of people do when they're starting to write."

Moriarty is in Seoul this weekend at the invitation of the Embassy of Ireland in Korea, which co-hosts an annual book talk for Irish authors at the Seoul Metropolitan Library. Alan Nolan, another Irish author who writes children’s books, was invited as well. Many in the audience were Korean and Irish readers and aspiring writers.

Best known for writing about family and relationships, Moriarty has published 18 novels and four children’s books. "The Way We Were" won the Irish Independent Popular Fiction Book of the Year in 2015, and her first children’s book, "The New Girl," became Teen and Young Adult Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards in 2021. None of her works have yet been translated into Korean, but she hopes to find a local publisher during this trip.

She also emphasized the importance of reading: “I think books are the most amazing way to switch off to just calm down and just disappear into the life of somewhere, somebody else."

The author voiced frustration over the use of her work by AI platforms such as ChatGPT. “All of my work has been scraped — uploaded without my knowledge, without permission, and without payment — and the same is true for every single one of my friends in Ireland and England,” she said.

“At the very least, we want to know when our work is being used,,, and we would like to be compensated. It’s becoming a real problem. You can now go into ChatGPT and ask it to write a novel in the style of Sinead Moriarty about a Korean man who meets an Irish woman and falls in love,” she said adding that she and fellow authors are pushing their governments to take action to protect their future works.

Her talk was part of a packed literary weekend in Seoul. Many local and international writers are participating in the Seoul International Writers’ Festival and the literary week festival organized by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.