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Sitting in his home in Oxford, Mississippi, acclaimed author Nico Walker lights a cigarette, closes his eyes, and begins discussing poetry. “I’m a big fan of poetry,” Walker says between exhalations. “I love the sound of ordinary words.”
Nico Walker may be a fan of ordinary words, but his journey as an author has been anything but. Walker served as an Army medic during the Iraq War, and by the time he returned home he had been on over 250 combat missions and developed PTSD and depression, for which he was turned to the heroine to face. The drug habit led to a life of crime, which led to a stint in prison. He began to write his first novel, the semi-autobiographical Cherry, while serving an eleven year prison sentence for a series of bank robberies in the Cleveland area committed in four months. It quickly became an unexpected phenomenon (“we thought 1,000 copies would be sold,” he recalls. The actual number is 100,000 printed copies.) And won several accolades, including a nomination for the PEN / Hemingway Award. As a penance, Walker used the proceeds from the book to pay off the banks he had robbed.
The director duo that the Russo Brothers got on, and after delivering a few Marvel epics, adapted Walker’s work into a dramatic thriller. The film hits theaters and on AppleTV this weekend on March 12, starring Tom Holland. GQ reached out to Walker to discuss the film adaptation, what he’s currently working on, and how he’s coping with writing during a pandemic.
You are a writer used to working under unusual circumstances. First in prison and now during a pandemic. Are there any similarities between the two?
It’s similar in many ways. The message we get from those who try to protect us reminds me a lot of prison. I can’t really complain about it now. I am relatively unaffected. I can work from home. I feel a bit like a tramp. I’m just sitting here comfortably, Commander Doordash. Then you have people who have to go to work and feed everyone.
You declined to be an executive producer on cherry. What do you think of the film?
I ended up being an executive producer “on paper”. The Russos honored the contract by paying the rights to the book. They didn’t necessarily use me on the film, which is their prerogative. I saw the film a bit. I’m not really trying to see it. I guess the main reason is that I have my own idea of what this story is, and I don’t want to replace it with someone else’s version. I know it’s a little selfish.
There is, however, a precedent. Steinbeck has never seen Of mice and Men on Broadway, for example.
I really like John Steinbeck. Sweet Thursday and Flat tortilla are killers. Steinbeck is actually underrated, which is to say something. One of the first things I read in prison was a biography of Steinbeck. It was as big as a directory. Anyway, I wish them good luck with the film. I hope the spirit of the book is intact.
Have you ever expected cherry become the feeling it is today?
I felt like I was winning something. That’s not really how it turned out for me. It really took off in a direction I had never thought of. Of all the books published, people paid attention to the one I had written. It was a very surreal and unexpected experience. It wasn’t really how things turned out for me.
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