Dirty Dublin
Irish Heritage committee member and Open University student, Yvonne Fitzpatrick-Grimes (pictured right) takes time out of her studies to tell Platform about the inspiration behind her first novel, Dirty Dublin...
Set in Dublin in the 1950s, Dirty Dublin is the story of two women, opposing models both morally and socially, and their struggle to survive the amours of the Bishop of Dublin. Taking regular excursions into dark places, the Bishop frequently replaces article of faith with articles of a very different nature.
Dirty Dublin is the first novel written by OU student Yvonne Fitzpatrick Grimes (pictured). “I went to creative writing classes for three years and was fortunate enough to be taught by Stephen Smith, a brilliant teacher and poet. Dirty Dublin seemed to just grow organically, gathering a pace of its own.
“The opening was inspired by a trip to Dublin when I was a child and resurrecting this nugatory imagery I began to write.”
Creative writing may be in her blood, however, it is a very different course that Yvonne is studying with the OU. “I am presently studying D171 Introduction to counselling. It is a fantastic course and a revelation primarily in introducing me to just how much I don’t know.”
Yvonne chose to study with the OU because her husband did his degree with the university. “My husband studied Social Sciences. As Head of Tactical Firearms for Surrey Police he was more than aware of the need for knowledge. Retired from the police now and Head of Security for the Tower of London he is about to study for a Masters in Organised Crime and Terrorism; an opportunity which would have been out of the question without his OU degree.”
Although her plans to write a second novel are currently on hold while Yvonne studies with the OU, she would eventually like to become a bereavement counsellor.