Q&A with Author, Caolán Mac An Aircinn
Caolán Mac An Aircinn – Author Bio
Caolán Mac An Aircinn is a classicist, archaeologist, translator, editor and opportunistic zookeeper who writes primarily in his native Irish. Dragon Dreams represents Caolán’s first work published in English.
Q&A
What is it about dragons that you love so much?
The dragon (at least the European dragon, which is what I’ve written about) is the quintessential anti-human: reptilian versus mammalian, cold-blooded versus warm-blooded, reclusive and savage versus communal and civilisational. This makes them very powerful symbols. For example, in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, which gave me the inspiration for my story, the Greek god Apollo slays a dragon which had been haunting Mount Parnassus; an obvious way to read this is the dragon as wilderness being defeated by Greek civilization, incarnate in the form of Apollo.
Why do you enjoy writing about dragons?
I like to write about dragons because they’re infinitely flexible. Even my drakaina, who is less personable than many literary dragons, isn’t necessarily evil: she only kills those who venture into her lair and bother her. Who’s really at fault–the dragon or the arrogant antiquarians who disturb her rest? If you wanted, you could read that further as an allegory for human encroachment on the wild, or on how colonialism affected Greece–and indeed you’ll find that European archaeologists could be quite unscrupulous in the early days of scientific archaeology. Indeed, at Delphi itself, the French dislodged an entire Greek village to get at the remains of the temples underneath.
What are some of your favorite books to read featuring dragons?
I’m a big fan of the Riftwar series by Raymond E. Feist, which portrays dragons in a nuanced, sensitive and often sympathetic light. I also really love The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. One may contend that it doesn’t feature any dragons, but Rand al’Thor would surely disagree.
What got you into writing?
I wrote a (fortunately now lost) story about goddesses doing battle at six and have been hooked ever since. I believe the story ended satisfyingly with one goddess dunking the other in a volcano. Now, I could no more give up writing than I could give up breathing.
If there was one piece of advice you could give to other writers, what would it be?
Get a day job! I know it’s the last piece of advice that writers want to hear, but it’s useful in many ways. Obviously stability is a big one–one can predict neither when nor if one’s writing will achieve monetary success, so having something to pay the bills, as Thomas Kinsella and Ciaran Carson, to name just two, did, gives you time to hone your craft without having to worry about where the next meal is coming from. I also think the experience of life in general you get from working a day job makes your writing better–one of the reasons Charles Stross’ books are so good is because you know when he’s describing the British civil service, he’s speaking from experience, and I think you can’t counterfeit that if you’re on a residency. Lastly, there’s a stigma around writing in one’s spare time, as if you’re not a real writer if you don’t make your living from it. This is silly and pernicious, and we should work to eliminate it.
Where can readers follow your writer platform?
I’m still starting out and haven’t yet put together a writer platform, but for those of you whose Irish is up to scratch, a few of my Lovecraftian short stories can be found in An Gael.
Opportunistic zookeeper?
I was working retail in Dublin Zoo during the pandemic when COVID struck the elephant team. They asked for anyone who could handle a shovel, so for two weeks, I took care of elephants!