Digital forums a boon for writers, says Margaret Atwood at Jaipur Lit Fest
Who says people don’t read anymore? At least the crowd bursting at the seams at Diggi Palace, the venue for the world’s largest literary fair suggested anything but this.
And, literary legend Margaret Atwood, the guest of honour at the Jaipur Literature Festival too certainly doesn’t believe that reading habit is diminishing. “Only the medium is changing,” she said in her keynote address that launched the 9th edition of the world’s largest free literary fair on Thursday.
In fact, Atwood feels that digital forum is rather a boon for writers as it expands their reach to places where people don’t have access to books or libraries. “If there were no readers, there cannot be writers,” she said.
However, Atwood who has penned over forty volumes of poetry, children’s literature, fiction, and non-fiction said that writers are cheap dates. Writing is relatively inexpensive –all you require is the writers, their books and their voices. Quoting Robertson Davies, she said, ‘Give me a silver penny and I will tell you a golden tale.’ No wonders, she feels that literature festivals are proliferating. ‘You don’t even need an auditorium!’
However, she lauded the enormous reach of the Jaipur Literature festival: ‘To see this festival, which started very, very small and has now become the largest book-fest in India and the largest free book-fest in the entire world – that’s an amazing achievement.’ And, joked that to be invited as a Keynote speaker, she must either be very important or very old.
According to her for attending a festival like the Jaipur Literature Festival, the author gets connected with his or her other half, which is the reader. Equating readers with musicians reading scores, she said that what keeps music and books alive is being read, being played, being interpreted and reinterpreted.
Asserting the importance of writing as an art form, Atwood said that writing sheds light on darkness - whether it’s the darkness of fascist regimes, poverty, oppression of women, or discrimination of so many kinds. She also emphasized on the important role played by key stories in building and protecting culture.
She expressed her excitement to be visiting India, observing that Indian culture is unique, due to its extreme variety and multiculturalism. The legendary writer concluded her session with enthusiasm about the festival ahead: ‘As we know from reading stories, a happy ending often includes a feast, but today is not a happy ending – today is a happy beginning.’
