| He came to our meeting from a lunch with the Minister for Arts and Heritage, Síle de Valera, discussing the possibility of translating The Story of Yew, into Irish for the benefit of schoolchildren. Clearly touched, this charming man eulogises about Ireland, talking of our music, literature, mysticism, Celtic traditions and all the saints. “Think of Belgium or Holland,” he says. “What have they done? Maybe fantastic things but I haven’t heard. To my knowledge they haven’t contributed to beautifying the world as the Irish have.” However he feels the spirit of Ireland has changed since his first visit. Deploring tourism everywhere, Guido would like to impose a dress code on Venice, allowing no shorts, T-shirts or sneakers. “It would make a difference,” he says. "Time Out" by Sue Leonard |
| The Irish Examiner |
| Saturday June 16, 2001 |
| He didn’t sleep too well either. “I would wake at four in the morning, not from a nightmare but from an idea, and go to the studio and write it. And I have to get up to take my three boys to school. And I would finish a novel, and the other one would be already starting. And my wife would go, ‘Basta, basta’ (enough).” At that moment, his beautiful Spanish born wife, Stenie, arrives, carrying bags of shopping. “It was all too much!” she says. “All that inspiration, inspiration.” Liking larger than life characters that stand for archetypes, Guido travelled to Ecuador, Israel and Mexico to research one of his novels. He is currently working on a seventh novel, called The Wounded King, which he describes as a book entirely against the modern world. He needs to visit Bolivia, and is trying to persuade the friends, he calls them squires, to accompany him. “I think when I do go I will feel I have to write it,” he says. “It’s growing, but I have to devote myself to promoting The Story of Yew.” Guido was overwhelmed when Frank Lewis of Radio Kerry recently devoted one hour and a half hours programme time to dramatise The Story of Yew. “He used six actors and told the whole story. I couldn’t believe it,” says Guido. “I was touched and impressed. He skipped the news and had a young woman reading the young yew; a middle-aged woman, the middle-aged yew and an old woman, the old yew. And other people read. I loved it. I think only in Ireland would this happen.” |