Keep writing: Nobel laureate Gurnah tells aspiring authors

Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah said young aspiring writers should keep writing and there has to be a desire to pen their thoughts.

Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah said young aspiring writers should keep writing and there has to be a desire to pen their thoughts. The celebrated Tanzania-born British novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, who was given the 2021 Nobel prize for literature, said there is no real conflict between the work routine of an academic and a writer and one can strike the balance.

Gurnah, who was participating in a discussion at the 12th Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet here on Tuesday as the guest of honour, is the Emeritus Professor of English and Postcolonial literature at the University of Kent.

On his advice to young aspiring writers, he said ''Don't give up. Just keep writing. There has to be the desire to pen your thoughts.'' Asked if there is a conflict when he has to write a thesis and work on a literary work, the writer of epochal fictions like Paradise (1994), By the Sea (2001), Desertion (2005), Afterlives (2020) said, ''I don't think there is a real one (conflict) between managing academia and literary works.

''Manageable it is. It is all about at what time you work''. Gurnah, whose works are known for colonialism, migrants experiences and displacement, said he has his own way.

''I do all academic work at the university while I do my writing work (literary) at home,'' he said.

The Afterlives writer, who was given the Nobel prize in Literature in 2021 for delving deep into the effects of colonialism and the fate of migrants between cultures and continents, said he has another book coming in the near future.

Gunrah said when he first arrived in Kolkata on January 22 night, he was reminded about the 'City of Dreadful Night' by Rudyard Kipling as ''all I saw was traffic''.

''However today I saw the beautiful city and the lovely audience,'' he added.

Inaugurating the five-day literary meet, West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, who was present along with the 75-year-old celebrated writer, said ''We welcome you, we show our respect to you on behalf of the people of Bengal''.

Bose described the Nobel laureate as a writer ''who can provide sublimity in literature''.

Quoting words of Francis Bacon ''some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested,'' Bose said a good book can be a precious life partner for an individual.

''In Bengal, a poor man given the choice to opt for a book or bread, will choose book,'' he said while observing ''literature should not be unrelated to life,'' Bose said.

The governor, who had his own book of short stories signed by Gunrah, recited Rabindranath Tagore's 'Banglar Mati Banglar Jol', to wrap up his speech.

The five-day literary meet was being held in the sprawling lawns of the maginificent Victoria Memorial with the majestic white edifice being the background presenting a stellar lineup of eminent personalities from the world of literature and art all over the world.