The Art of Living Writer in motion and writer in seclusion. Writers as public intellectuals
Deсember 8, 2024
The International Literary Forum pondered what style means in life and in literature
Critic Natalia Lomykina invited the International Forum participants to reflect on how the lifestyle and social role of writers has changed over the past few decades. Russia is still a literature-centric nation, Lomykina remarked. To the Russian public, a writer “epitomizes his epoch and prefigures the future”. It is customary to seek writers’ opinion on just about everything, from “where are we to go” to personal trivia.
This is not quite the case in Cuba, according to editor Maria Alexandra Loyola Moya. A conversation with an author rarely departs from the subject of literature. On the other hand, the editor plays a formidable role. Not only does the editor edit the manuscript - he or she is also responsible for promoting the work, acting in lieu of a literary agent.
“People see no major difference between a writer and, say, a Bollywood star in India”, admitted prose writer Gourav Mohanty. “As soon as I authored my first successful book, my opinion entered the public spotlight. Now I have to couch my words carefully so as not to say something I will be sorry I said and not to offend anyone.
Monica Mpambawashie (Zimbabwe), Vice President of the Pan African Writers’ Association, noted a degree of downturn in publishing business and readership culture in the region and, accordingly, declining interest in literary life. Prose writer Ekaterina Manoilo did not mince words as she described how hard it is nowadays to look out for one’s interests as a writer, developing relationships with publishers, journals and critics, speaking at all manner of forums, and “competing with kittens on social media” - all this without interrupting your literary work for a second.
This is not quite the case in Cuba, according to editor Maria Alexandra Loyola Moya. A conversation with an author rarely departs from the subject of literature. On the other hand, the editor plays a formidable role. Not only does the editor edit the manuscript - he or she is also responsible for promoting the work, acting in lieu of a literary agent.
“People see no major difference between a writer and, say, a Bollywood star in India”, admitted prose writer Gourav Mohanty. “As soon as I authored my first successful book, my opinion entered the public spotlight. Now I have to couch my words carefully so as not to say something I will be sorry I said and not to offend anyone.
Monica Mpambawashie (Zimbabwe), Vice President of the Pan African Writers’ Association, noted a degree of downturn in publishing business and readership culture in the region and, accordingly, declining interest in literary life. Prose writer Ekaterina Manoilo did not mince words as she described how hard it is nowadays to look out for one’s interests as a writer, developing relationships with publishers, journals and critics, speaking at all manner of forums, and “competing with kittens on social media” - all this without interrupting your literary work for a second.