‘Trainspotting’ author and Irish writer join Fiction faculty
New instructors to teach classes in Scottish and Irish writers, fiction seminars
By Randy J. Klodz
Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Random House New Columbia Fiction faculty member Irvine Welsh.

Columbia will be welcoming the addition of two nationally known writers, Irvine Welsh and Antonia Logue, to its Fiction Writing Department for the spring 2003 semester, when each writer will begin teaching courses.

Irvine Welsh, the Scottish author better known for his book-turned-indie-film Trainspotting, will join the Columbia faculty as a visiting artist-in-residence and will teach courses entitled Fiction Seminar and Critical Reading and Writing: Contemporary Scottish Writers.

Welsh is also scheduled to make an appearance during Story Week, a series that has drawn quite a crowd for Welsh in the past.

The announcement of the faculty additions for the spring semester has created a buzz within the Fiction Writing Department and is likely to stir citywide interest for the program.

“He’s kind of like a rock star who’s a great writer,” said Gary Johnson, graduate program coordinator for the Fiction Writing Department. “Students emulate him—he’s not a lightweight.”

“I’m not too formal,” Welsh said. “You have to start from the belief that people have the talent and the desire to do well. I’ll try to operate on as much of a needs-orientated basis as I can.”

According to Don De Grazia—fiction-writing instructor at Columbia, and author of the acclaimed novel American Skin, Welsh’s helped change the perception in London that “Scots don’t read.”

“Obviously, that was ridiculous,” De Grazia said. “The reason Scots—with their glorious literary tradition—weren’t buying much contemporary literary fiction was because not much was being published about the Scottish experience.”

According to Johnson, another positive attribute regarding Welsh’s writing style is his use of simple language.

“He writes in dialect, the way people speak,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to get our students to do this, get students to find their own voice in their writing.”

Though he does not currently reside in Chicago, Welsh said he is optimistic about the city and his initial impression of Columbia has been positive.

“I was shown great friendship and I thought it would be a nice place to spend some time,” Welsh said. “Additionally, I have a lot of work in the United States and it makes sense to be based there for a bit.”

Welsh’s new novel, Porno, the sequel to Trainspotting, was released in September.

Other fiction titles by Welsh include: The Acid House, Ecstasy, Marabou Stork Nightmare and Glue.

Welsh and De Grazia are both published by Jonathan Cape, the London publishing house to which De Grazia first sold American Skin.

“Welsh was the reason I sent my book there in the first place,” De Grazia said.

Antonia Logue, an Irish writer known for her novel Shadowbox, which won the 1999 Irish Times Literature Award for an Irish Novel, will join the Fiction Writing Department as a full-time faculty member while teaching courses entitled Fiction Seminar and Critical Reading and Writing: Irish Writers.

“She seems to be very excited about the diversity at Columbia, as well as the basic teaching philosophy of the department, which views storytelling as a universal gift—one that all students, regardless of their social or academic backgrounds, can excel at if they are encouraged to utilize their own unique voices,” De Grazia said.

Though Welsh does not know Logue personally, he said he’s excited about having the chance to work with her.

“I think it’s great that people from different writing backgrounds can come in and share their experiences and skills with student writers,” Welsh said. “We’re all student writers.”