Standing there up against the wall of a room in the National Library of Bulgaria, where the Irish embassy was presenting 15 audio disks of the works of Irish poet Seamus Heaney, not quite amidst the clusters of chatting people, it was both obvious and not that this was she, Deirdre Madden, the author from Ireland visiting Bulgaria for a Bloomsday presentation of her book Authenticity.

It was not obvious because she stood there by the wall, observing rather than participating, modestly and silently; it was this same modest countenance and bearing that made it clear that she was foreign.

At an interview with her later in the day, now at the Irish ambassador’s residence, her presence again demands no glory, only restrained respect, the type that one would give to a sleeping baby: step softly; make every action count.

And it is such, too, with her words, both spoken and written. Every question answered, every answer concise; written sentences crafted intelligently, yet lacking intellectual snobbery: nothing is superfluous, nothing is affected. Strunk and White would be proud.

Madden was in Sofia from June 14 to 17, on the invitation of Irish ambassador Geoffrey Keating and Mrs Jane Keating, to be the keynote of the embassy’s traditional celebrations of Bloomsday. (The 16th of June is observed in various places around the world, and most so in Ireland, to celebrate the life of Irish writer James Joyce.)

Her visit to Bulgaria, though, would not have occurred if, more than a year ago, she had not met the Bulgarian publisher Mirela Hristova in Dublin, who had read Authenticity and, subsequently, convinced Madden that the novel deserved to be translated into Bulgarian – by Hristova – and published at the publishing house that Hristova had founded, Amat-AH.

This is what Madden tells the guests, her lilting accent like a leisurely paddle in a rowboat, at the Bloomsday party.
(Hristova was in Dublin as part of the Irish Literature Exchange; the Bulgarian edition of Authenticity was officially released on May 20 2009.)

Born in the Northern Ireland town of Toomebridge, County Antrim, Madden says that she grew up reading – favourites include fairy tales and Wind in the Willows. Four years at Trinity College Dublin, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature, brought her in contact with big-city life, a "complete change" from what she had known, she tells The Sofia Echo.

A good change, as she devoured the bookshops, theatres and concert halls. She says that still, yet, she likes both sides, and would not mind living back again in a village somewhere, if there was the opportunity to intersperse countryside with city. Currently, Madden splits her time between Dublin, where she teaches creative writing at Trinity College, and Paris.

She speaks French, and, following her master’s degree at the University of East Anglia, lived full-time in Paris for some years. Fluency in another language has given her appreciation for the work that translators do. While it could seem that giving one’s book up for translation would feel like sending one’s child off to boarding school – away from the custody of home, to return a different species – Madden says that such has not been her experience.

"It’s a nice feeling that readers in different countries can read [my works]; it’s gratifying," she says. "Though there is an element of trust to it. I really monitor the translations for quality. It is important that the translation is as faithful to the original as possible." Translations of various of her nine books, of which two are for children, can be found in Swedish, Norwegian, French, German, Spanish and, now, Bulgarian.

While in Bulgaria, Madden and the Keatings took a day trip to Glozhenski Monastery, and attended a concert by Irish organist Simon Harden at Bulgaria Hall. She admits that from such a brief visit, it is difficult to form a "real, in-depth" understanding, but that she finds the people warm, and the countryside "very beautiful".
Ideas for her novels form from "mere life", or subjects she encounters. Perhaps this explains her quiet observations of the crowds at the Bloomsday events. Writing is "all I have ever wanted to do", she says.

Two of her novels – One by One in the Darkness (1996) and Molly Fox’s Birthday (2008) – have been shortlisted for the Orange Prize in Fiction, in 1997 and 2009, respectively. While neither won, Madden says that the nomination itself is valuable, because it increases sales. Awards that have been conferred on her books are the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 1987, for her first novel, Hidden Symptoms; the Somerset Maugham Award in 1989, for The Birds of the Innocent Wood (1988); and the Kerry Ingredients Book of the Year Award at the Listowel Writers’ Week festival in 1997, for One by One in the Darkness.

Madden is a member of the Irish arts academy, Aosdána.