Remy Kushner ’25 and the English department hosted author Colm Toibin at Ahmanson Lecture Hall on May 1. The talk was followed by a brief Q&A session. Students in Same House, Different Worlds who read “Brooklyn” by Toibin were required to attend this event.

Toibin is an Irish author known for works including “The Magician,”  “The Testament of Mary” and “Brooklyn.” “Brooklyn” is set in the 1950s and about Eilis Lacey, a young Irish woman who emigrates to Brooklyn, New York to start anew. She finds a job in a department store and falls in love with Tony, an Italian immigrant. However, a family emergency in Ireland pushes her to make a series of difficult decisions regarding her identity and life.

Toibin said he wrote  Brooklyn after hearing real stories from people who visited his home.

“People came to the house every evening, and they would come in,” Toibin said. “And then they would talk. A woman came, and she had a big coat on and a hat and scarf, and there seemed to be nobody else there. And she talked to my mother, and she had a handbag with her, and she had letters in the handbag from her daughter in Brooklyn. That’s the only story I had. And that story stayed in my mind in one way or another for 40 years. I never knew these people, and so I wrote the book.”

Kushner said he organized this event because he knew Toibin personally and wanted students to get insight into the book they have been reading for weeks.

“I’ve known Toibin for a long time, and when we read Brooklyn and discovered it was immensely well-liked, I felt like it was my duty to inquire about inviting him,” Kushner said. “That, combined with his extraordinary generosity, is what made this happen. I think students got a great look into what makes a novel and what distinguishes great writing from the rest. We got a direct look into how he approaches the process of creating a novel.”

Sophia Choi ’25, one of the attendees, said she enjoyed hearing about the author’s creative process from his point of view.

“It was really interesting to see the book from the author’s perspective,” Choi said. “Knowing it was somewhat based on real experiences adds a whole new layer of depth to the novel. I also thought it was cool how much of it was influenced by other stories, both published books and conversations with neighbors and family members.”

English Teacher Jocelyn Medawar, who helped organize the event, said she wanted students to feel a personal bond with the book by hearing about its creative process.

“The book generates terrific discussions, and he’s personally one of my favorite authors,” Medawar said. “We all know that a human being wrote the story, but to feel full-force that the book we’re talking about intensely every day for a few weeks was crafted with care out of someone’s imagination and experiences is an eye-opening and rare treat.”