Emma Donoghue
‘Room’ to Grow by Moving to New Experiences
Adapting a screenplay from the book “Room,” which is told from the p.o.v. of a young child, is a particularly daunting challenge. But Emma Donoghue — the book’s author — was unfazed.
“I was probably helped by the fact that I was so new to screenwriting,” she says. “I don’t have experience in writing normal films so this one didn’t strike me as any harder than anything else.”
Donoghue has an unusual amount of writing experience, though. She’s been writing since age 7. “I’ve never done anything else,” she says. “I was sacked from my job as a chambermaid. So you know, it’s writing or nothing for me. I don’t have any other string for my bow. So this has to work.”
She has another novel due in September, then her first children’s book. She writes in cafes, at her treadmill desk — anywhere she can. She says she’s one of those rare Irish writers who runs on caffeine. “Using the treadmill desk means it’s such a blissful moment when I am allowed to sit down to write. Like when there’s a new scene coming up and I’ll think ‘Ooh, I’ll save that for after lunch with my cafe au lait.’ Then I get to sit down. That’s bliss.” — David S. Cohen
Age: 47
Inspirations: Roddy Doyle, Julian Barnes
Agency: UTA
U.S. literary management: Anderson Literary Management
U.K. book agent: Caroline
Davidson Literary Agency