Helen Simpson by K. J. Orr
Helen Simpson by K. J. Orr
Short Fiction in Theory and Practice, Vol 1, Issue 1, March 2011 (ISSN 20430701)
EXCERPT
SFTP: When did you start writing stories?
HS: At university. I entered a short story competition in Isis. That’s how I heard about Angela Carter. Brian Aldiss was judging, and he said something like, This reminds me of the young Angela Carter, and I thought, Who’s Angela Carter? Then I read her and admired her, particularly her stories. Much later, once I’d come to London, I went to a reading she did in Strawberry Hill and I thought she was wonderful. I collared her in the car park and said, Would you like a lift? I’d just passed my driving test, so all the way back I was saying, What do you think of the short story? What do you think of Katherine Mansfield? And she was saying things like, Look out! That’s a red light!….”
To read the full interview, please click here.