Tonight I went to see Sebastian Barry at the first of many readings for the Writers Read at Concordia series.

I had never read any of his works before but I find events like the Writers Read Series to be extremely helpful in discovering contemporary writers.

It was at events like this that led me to hear works for the first time by writers I now admire such as Michael Ondaatje and Michael Redhill.

Sebastian read excerpts from his new novel, A Long Long Way which has recently been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and I was blown away by his reading. Because writing is such private thing, there are many authors who are spectacular on the page but quite bland when speaking in public.

So, it was extremely refreshing to hear him read as if he were acting in a play, using hand gestures, voices, and even singing various excerpts from his recent novel, which deals with a young Irish soldier and his experiences during World War 1. I'm pretty sure his stage presence has a lot to do with his background in theatre which I find helps me whenever I perform in front of an audience.

I've made it a habit to ask every author I meet to tell me what their advice is for a young writer. Barry's answer was one of the more colourful responses I've ever gotten. Unfortunately, I can't recreate his distinctive Irish drawl but in a nutshell he said:

"If you have to do it, do it. If you don't have to, get the hell out while you still can."