Beginner’s pluck: Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing Garrett Carr

'The Boy from the Sea' is a mesmerising, meditative debut; reminiscent of John McGahern and Jon McGregor

Sat, 08 Feb, 2025 - 01:00

Sue Leonard

The son of a fisherman, Garrett didn’t become a reader until his twenties.

“The only books in our house were the giant dictionary, giant atlas of the world, and an encyclopaedia. I loved drawing and spent time wandering the fields and the bogs.”

After college, Garrett travelled for three years, to America, Australia, Asia, and Europe, working, and doing some travel writing, and beginning a novel that didn’t work. Then he worked in IT in Dublin.

“But I wanted creative work, and I started my border project, walking Ireland’s border, and making maps of Ireland.”

The resulting book, Walking Ireland’s Borders, came out in 2017. Meanwhile, in 2010 and 2011, he published three YA novels.

“This was the time of Harry Potter, when children’s writing was expanding.”

It seemed a good way to get into writing. I made my living by doing schools’ events.

The idea for The Boy from the Sea came five years ago.

“I wanted to write about fishing lives and record a time and a place. Donegal in the 1980s, was a place of extremes, with many people making tons of money. I saw a gap in the market.”

Who is Garrett Carr?

Date/ place of birth: 1975/ Donegal.

Education: St Catherine’s Vocational School, Killybegs; DIT Art College, fine art.

Home: Belfast.

Family: Wife Caroline Sumpter, sons Lorcan 13, and Fabian, 11.

The day job: Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queens University. “I’ve worked there since 2012.”

In another life: “Part of me, would like to be in Donegal, and able to see the Atlantic.”

Favourite writers: Annie Ernaux; Henry James; Émile Zola; Thérèse Raquin; Gwendoline Riley.

Second book: “I’m working on another novel set in Donegal.”

Top tip: “Its good to know your ending; not an exact scene, but the emotional place you want to land it. That gives you something to aim for.”

Website: www.garrettcarr.net

Instagram: @garrett_carr

The debut

The Boy from the Sea

Picador, €16.99/ Kindle, €10.08

A baby, abandoned on a beach in Donegal, is adopted by a fisherman; but his toddler son won’t accept him. Their rivalry continues throughout the years, while their parents struggle, and the community look on.

The verdict: A mesmerising, meditative debut; reminiscent of John McGahern and Jon McGregor.

Life on the frontier: Garrett Carr's journey along our northern border