by Lynn Jolly

I share with many readers of Open House a long association with the subject of this interview. Mine goes back to an early appreciation of social justice as inherent to the gospel. I credit him with first alerting me to that compelling truth over 30 years ago. In light of that, subjecting both of us to the Open House interview process was unlikely to be a relaxed affair, loaded as it was with a mix of remembered youth (mine) and taciturn reserve (his). Experience told me to keep the questions focussed and not to expect wide-ranging discourse. Since the subject on this occasion was ‘himself’ I further expected to be in and out in five so what follows was no small feat.

Willy Slavin retired from his last diocesan appointment as parish priest at St Simon’s in Glasgow in 2013. Finally giving place to a lifelong contemplative instinct he took a hut in the woods near Falkland in Fife where he spends half of his time. Another long-standing impulse to write has also been given space in retirement and his recently published book seemed like the most fruitful place to start the questions. Life is Not a Long Quiet River (reviewed by John Miller in OH 282) was published earlier this year by Birlinn and is billed as a memoir, although it is also a mix of theological reflection, polemic, and autobiography. I put this to him and ask what the motivation was for writing, and for publishing.