Sebastian Remøy
BIO
I write short stories, and occasionally longer fiction.
At the root of my stories is the simple question, why do people do what they do?
Answering that may not be so simple, but it is a question to be considered jointly with the reader.
I have worked in the UK, Germany, USA, Norway and Belgium, and for the last 20 years have lived very happily in Brussels with my family .
Having written for a couple of decades now, I hope I have filleted away much of the complex language and constructions that my younger self thought was so interesting and clever.
The Brussels Writers Workshop has really helped me to do that. Now I enjoy using simple language to explore human lives, which inevitably tend to be quite complicated.
So far my readers have been the Brussels Writers Workshop and family.
Now with friends in the Workshop, it’s time to push it out. We are taking the plunge. Together!
Prousting it ...
What is your greatest fear? Not creating value.
What is your current state of mind? Confusion, caused by this question. My state of mind is generally fleeting, variable, from minute to minute or hour to hour.
What is your favourite occupation? Writer or Musician, or biologist.
What historical figure do you most identify with? Zelig
Which living person do you most admire? Gro Harlem Brundtland
Who is your favourite fictional hero? Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky in War and Peace
Who are you real-life heroes? Mandela, King, McEwan, Shriver
What is your most treasured possession? My dog Luca, although I am sure he thinks I am his possession.
When and where were you happiest? On a sailing boat off Croatia, France or Norway with family
What is your most obvious characteristic? Questioning
What is the trait you most deplore in others? Envy and its twin, self-pity
What is your greatest extravagance? Travel
What is your favourite journey? See answer to question 9
What do you most dislike about your appearance? There is little bit too much of me
What do you consider the most over-rated virtue? Genius. Wisdom is much more important.
On what occasion do you lie? When filling out Proustian questions
Which words or phrases do you most over-use? Faktisk
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? All the times I held myself back because I didn’t think I could do something.
What do you consider your greatest achievement? Still to come, I’m a late starter.
Where would you like to live? Some busy little fishing port nestled into a sheltered bay
What is the quality you most admire in a man? Courage
What is the quality you most admire in a woman? Courage
What is it you most dislike? Injustice
What do you value most in your friends? Creativity
How would you like to die? Satisfied with life.
If you were to die and come back as a person or an animal, what do you think it would be? A mathematician, or a dolphin
If you could choose an object to come back as, what would you choose? An AI supercomputer
What is your motto, the words you live by or that mean a lot to you? Plan for tomorrow, live for today.
Who has been the greatest influence on you? My wife and my daughter