SOURCE: Kiely, Benedict, and Jennifer Clarke. “Benedict Kiely.” In Writing Irish: Selected Interviews with Irish Writers from the Irish Literary Supplement, edited by James P. Myers, Jr., pp. 73-87. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1999.

In the following interview, initially published in the spring of 1987 by the Irish Literary Supplement, Kiely discusses his Irish upbringing, his creative process, and influences on his writing.

I don't believe in a god or in an Irish republic or any of those things, but I do believe in my neighborhood. I say that if you don't believe in your neighborhood and that your neighbor's life is sacred, there is no point in shouting about believing in God or in anybody else's God—which seems to me to be perfectly reasonable.

—Benedict Kiely

Benedict Kiely, journalist, broadcaster, critic, scholar, novelist, and short-story writer is one of Ireland's leading literary figures although he is not as...