Proving that being a late bloomer often has advantages, Wexford-born author Colm Tóibín has revealed that he could not read until he was nine years of age.

Tóibín made the revelation during an interview with the New York Time's By the Book column. He also said that he had a serious stammer when he was young.

Referring to his childhood in Enniscorthy, the novelist revealed that his mother once warned him "that being a dimwit was likely to have dire consequences" but that his parents were sweet enough not to mention his stammer or inability to read.

"They were smart enough not to seek professional help. They left me to myself." Tóibín said.

As a consequence he has no favourite childhood books. Instead he listed Sylvia Plath's poem Daddy as an early favourite which he learned by heart.

During the interview, the Booker-nominated author also quipped that his wish was to be Leopold Bloom from James Joyce's classic novel, Ulysses.

”I love the way he notices and registers things, his wit, his sensuous good humour," said the author of Brooklyn. "I envy all the fun he had when he went to Nighttown and got involved in gender-bendering."

Asked to list his favourite Irish writers, Tóibíncited his love for Tim Robinson’s books on the Irish landscape, Aran and Connemara, and advised readers to investigate the poems of Paul Durcan, the plays of Tom Murphy, and the novels of Anne Enright.