"Don’t set yourself up for failure." | Writer Claire-Louise Bennett | Louisiana Channel

“Don’t look at the blank page unless you at least got something.” British writer Claire-Louise Bennett shares how she deals with the infamous blank page that every writer must face.

“I don’t write every day. Sometimes I feel bad about that.” Claire-Louise Bennett lives a somewhat nomadic life; most of her belongings are in storage. Living without a set place or routine contributes to her not writing every day, she thinks. Bennett refers to the British writer Ann Quin, mentioned in her book Checkout 19, for having lived a similar unsettled life. “I wouldn’t sit down at a blank page. And just get freaked out by it,” Claire-Louise Bennett continues: “There can be a lot of self-loathing connecting with failing and failure, so don’t set yourself up for failure.”

Claire-Louise Bennett is a British writer living in Galway, Ireland. She has written Pond, which was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and Checkout 19, which was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize. Bennett studied literature and drama at the University of Roehampton before moving to Ireland, where she worked in and studied theatre for several years. In 2013 she was awarded the inaugural White Review Short Story Prize. Claire-Louise Bennett’s fiction and essays have appeared in several publications, including The White Review, The Stinging Fly, gorse, Harper’s Magazine, Vogue Italia, and The New York Times magazine. She also writes about art and is a frequent contributor to frieze.

Claire-Louise Bennett was interviewed by writer Caroline Albertine Minor at the Louisiana Literature festival at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark, in August 2022.

Camera: Simon Wehye
Edited and produced by: Roxanne Bagheshirin Lærkesen
Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2023

Louisiana Channel is supported by Den A.P. Møllerske Støttefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, C.L. Davids Fond og Samling and Fritz Hansen.

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