This month’s blog is about an afternoon spent in the medieval ‘oil painting’ city of Fribourg, Switzerland. It was the perfect backdrop for me to do a shoot of the author of the book ‘The Naked Swiss: A Nation Behind 10 Myths, Clare O’Dea. We all know about the book, we see it everywhere and we’ve all probably got a copy in our respective homes. However, I wanted to find out about Clare and her inspiration for writing this book. In the process of doing so, I was taken on two journeys simultaneously. One was a tour around the town where we managed to cover quite a bit of the city, its gothic architecture, open spaces, atmospheric cafes and the laid-back and friendly nature of its inhabitants. To me it was a mini Bern with a hint of Covent Garden. Well, I had to throw something in that was familiar to me and my life in London. The other journey was Clare’s life; and in the process I learned a lot more than what was expected from this shoot.* So far there has been a lot of coverage about this insightful book, not to mention the glowing reviews received; but I wanted to share who Clare is. Well, Clare took me on a journey, retracing the steps, decisions, incidents and actions she took to get to this stage in her life.
Even though I could quite easily write pages and pages about the afternoon spent with Clare, I’m determined to make this blog as brief as I possibly can; while ensuring coverage of the main points we talked about. The thought of serialising this blog or perhaps creating 3 parts to this afternoon did enter my mind, but hopefully I will have covered the day in this single blog. We discussed many topics and Clare made us both chuckle at some of her anecdotes. One in particular that stuck in my mind, was her chance meeting with the Internationally acclaimed Riverdance celebrity Michael Flatley just before the stage show became an international phenomenon. I can still remember the feel-good factor a performance brought. Watched by over 25 million people around the world it was a major success, but I digress… back to my time with Clare.
Clare was brought up in Dublin, Ireland and had the Irish culture embedded into her education and life. She was schooled in Gaelic well before it became fashionable. Her primary school, at the time, was one of only 4 schools that taught in the Gaelic language in Dublin. Now at least 30 schools in the city teaches in Irish Gaelic, reflecting a revival of interest in Irish culture that has taken place since the peace process of the 1990s. I inadvertently found out through the course of the day, that in fact Clare speaks Russian to add to her tally of languages. My count is 5! So a woman of very many talents. The afternoon was a bit like that – layers and layers of Clare were being unfolded through the course of the shoot to guide me with my understanding of how she got to where she is today.
As long as Clare can remember, her passion was for writing, in particular fiction. But, while we all want to follow our dreams, most of us have to enter into the rat race for practical reasons. Oh, we had a common ground there and a lot was said.
I’ll fast forward, if I may, to when a chance encounter with a Swiss at a wedding in Ireland changed Clare’s direction in life. She was employed by the Irish Times at the time and spent a number of years working there. Comparable to a lot of expats I know, if the move to Switzerland was not driven by work opportunities, it was naturally driven by love. So, the latter brought her here.
Clare has now spent more than a decade living in Switzerland and in all that time based in the beautiful town of Fribourg. When she first moved over, she continued with the same line of work she was doing in Ireland. Luckily for Clare, she managed to land a journalist job with Swissinfo – the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. But, what happens when you plan, execute and pat yourself on the back for achieving your goals? Life….. life happens.
Soon after starting work at Swissinfo, Clare discovered she was pregnant and expecting twins. Even though she went back to work after the birth of her children, there was something else Clare felt that she could and should be doing. On a visit back home to Ireland, she was inspired by a conversation with her cousin Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, who had just published her first book. Sarah showed Clare that the only obstacles to writing were self-imposed. It was just a question of making time. Clare decided to take some time out of work to write. It was a now or never moment.
Why ‘The Naked Swiss’? Well, after spending a number of years in Switzerland, Clare wanted to investigate and provide some depth or dispel the known stereotypes of Switzerland. We all know them. She wanted to write a book that through research, interviews, observation and experience will outline the what and the whys and whether there were any truths to the myths and stereotypes. I believe she enjoyed this process and found it not only fulfilling but also revealed some surprises of how things work in Switzerland and work so well.
In summary the book (written in English) examines 10 myths behind the nation and though it will be printed and available in French and German on Jan 2018, it is largely aimed at dispelling some of the misunderstanding of Switzerland and in particular the Swiss to the non-swiss community. As Clare writes in the book: ‘what is a country if not its people’.
What I came away with was that when you have something within you, it’s going to come out one day in whatever form – no matter what diversional path you take along the way. Clare is an example of this. From when she can remember, her passion was writing. She has taken many routes and different directions, often with decisions out of her hands, but eventually came back to her passion. Now in her true space, Clare feels at home and importantly and wonderfully feels at home here in der Schweiz. Zu Hause weg von zu Hause.
*:- Away from this current book, Clare has been shortlisted for the 2017 Hennessy Literary Awards with her short story The Favour.
The Naked Swiss: A Nation Behind 10 Myths. The book is published by Bergli Books and available online and wherever English books are sold in Switzerland.
Link to The Naked Swiss :- http://www.bergli.ch/100/con_liste.asp?prono=90&ica=1&vSearch=&nCurPage=&sStartPageNext=&caller=list
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