Heinrich Böll

And the...

The roll call of international writers included Nadine Gordimer, Heinrich Boll, Mario Vargas Llosa and Ruth Prywell-Javila.

So your four, I think, Nobel Prize winners came to Scotland to talk about Neil Gaunt because they recognised him as a great writer.

And now, you know, people go, oh, yeah, that guy, I've heard of him.

Of course, you don't have to be a young writer to avail of them.

I mean, this summer, I had the most extraordinary time, creative time, staying in the Heinrich Boll cottage on Ackle in Glenty Bay.

And I hope I did good work there on the novel I'm trying to wrestle into being at the moment.

Ball was a fascinating character.

Why wouldn't you? It's a fabulous landscape.

Camille Souter, the abstract artist who died just a few years ago, made her home there and was inspired by it too.

And the Heinrich Boll Committee, which runs the cottage where I was fortunate enough to stay, they've acquired her committee too and intend making an artist's retreat up.

And I think it speaks to the generosity of spirit artists in the Irish identity that they, you know, they're volunteers on Angle who are doing this, sharing this wonderful space with other writers and artists from around the world, not just from Ireland.

They come straight from Germany.

They're by Heinrich Böll, a great man, a great writer.

My father picked up a book from the sideboard and showed it to him.

It was Der Zug war pünktlich.

I'll be on my way, so good luck with the fishing.

And he was gone.

Heinrich Böll had fought, much against his will, amongst the horrors of World War II.

After the war, he searched for a place untouched by human conflict and still imbued with the strength of Catholic faith.