Profile
Aneko Campbell is a pseudonym. She works in the field of mental health and in a previous incarnation her short stories have been highly commended and shortlisted in competitions and published in the UK and overseas. She has an MPhil in Writing, and is currently working on her third novel, ‘A Fine Weave’ a vivid account of a female murderer who narrowly escapes the noose to go on to reinvent herself in 1910 New York.
Aneko
Why the pseudonym?
I prefer to keep my therapy work separate from that of my writing.
That’s a bit terse. Surely it isn’t that easy…er…tempted to write about people you see?
Absolutely not. That would be outrageously disrespectful.
Ok. Why Aneko – Japanese heritage?
Nothing so exotic. Just liked the name. Being a Scot, I can lay claim to Campbell.
What sort of things do you write about?
Quite often it’s everyday stuff that goes woefully wrong. My stories have been described as strikingly inventive, unmoralising and stylishly comic-gothic. Frequently my characters have difficulty in connecting with each other, mostly because they are so busy fantasising that they end up fatally misinterpreting those around them.
Tell us about your latest work?
I’m enjoying writing it, discovering 1910 New York, a time and place of tremendous upheaval: horse-drawn carriages competing with trolleys and early automobiles for space, the rapid proliferation of dance halls and rise of the movies belying the reality of child labour and poverty. In the midst of this conflicting world, and carrying a dark secret, a woman is determined to reinvent herself, but to survive, first she must confront those who would bring her down. It’s interesting writing about someone I don’t particularly like, although I certainly admire her.
Influences on your work?
So many! Aside from those I have had the good fortune to directly learn from – Sean Ennis at Gotham Writers, Laura Hird, A.L. Kennedy, Christopher Meredith and Brian McCabe, I have many favourite writers: Paul Bowles, Jonathan Franzen, Patricia Highsmith, Henry James, Tove Jansson, Lorrie Moore, Haruki Murakami, David Nicholls, George Saunders, Carol Shields, and lots, lots more. My thanks also to those in the workshops and writing groups I have attended.
Aside from writing, what do you like to do?
Have to say, I don’t always enjoy the writing process, finding those days I stare at my laptop screen and nothing happens excruciating. That’s when solitude is particularly unattractive. But when I find myself writing a scene and I’m going with the flow, my fingers flying over the keys, it feels so good – what relief!
Aside from reading, my passions are film, art and music. I enjoy swimming and being dragged off for walkies by my dog. And if all this sounds a bit wholesome, I also like to kick up my heels, eat, drink and be merry with good friends.
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‘Ah, the Rolls-Royce of typewriters,’ grunted the man in the repair shop, his gnarled fingers stroking the Hermes. It was fitting that you, companion of my younger self, should be thus appreciated. The nights I hunched over you in a gauze of cigarette smoke, muttering while trying to pin down some thought, I had no need for music; you supplied the rhythm, your proud carriage all the swing I wanted, along with the clackety-clack and ding of your bell.
Like any friendship, there were testing times – those sticking keys, faulty ribbons and blurred print could be hard to take. You were impervious to the curses rained upon you. I forgive you and hope that you can forgive me.
Hermes: Messenger of the gods. Thank you for delivering my undergrad work and my reviews and interviews. Dear friend, may you never end up on eBay.
