By Our Special Correspondent
Shillong: It is not often that people can actually sit and watch an author speak of her book and the nuances behind the stories; about what motivates and sparks off the wordsmith in her…the anxieties and pleasures of completing a well-written fiction.
On Saturday evening a small band of fiction aficionados had the rare pleasure of listeni
ng to Anjum Hasan speak of her book, Difficult Pleasures, a collection of short stories published by Penguin. Anjum was in conversation with Janice Pariat another prolific writers whose writings appear in some of India’s leading magazines.
Anjum who had her early schooling at Loreto Convent Shillong had earlier written Lunatic in My Head, Neti Neti, Not This, Not This and Street on the Hills.
The first recounts life in Shillong and draw from some of the author’s own experiences…the strange love-hate relationship that people born in this city experience all too often.
“Difficult Pleasures is a collection of short fiction. It is an attempt to test myself against the imagined, inventing and drawing from my own life. Fiction is the ability to write other peoples’ stories like your own and to write your own stories like someone else’s,” Anjum said in her tete-a-tete with Janice.
“Many people of my generation live in the place they are born in,” Anjum said, adding that her work reflects the ‘constantly on the move,’ roving life of many of her generation. Neti Neti is an 18 year old in contemporary Bangalore and the angst of living away from family.
When asked by a member of the audience whether her novel Lunatic in My Head captures part of her own adolescent life as a school girl of Loreto Convent, Anjum said it is inevitable that part of the authors own experiences and discontents would creep into her fiction.
“All fiction begins with a certain discontent which provokes the writer to write out her first draft. But writing in itself is a ‘difficult pleasure,’ Anjum observed.
Quoting Orhan Pamuk the Turkish writer extensively, Anjum said Pamuk is a writer who not only writes fiction but questions the very act of writing and is also able to critique his own writing.
When asked what inspires her to write, Anjum said “Inspiration is over-rated. It does not come that often. Endurance and persistence are what matters.”
Following the launch Anjum autographed several copies of Difficult Pleasures saying “It is so nice to see such an enthusiastic audience and Bookmark has really created space for writers.”
Janice Pariat announced that she would be launching her book in Shillong next month.
Meanwhile, Bookmark owner Sambha Lamarr also informed the audience about the forthcoming event called ‘CALM’ a Shillong literary fest schedule to be held between October 31- November 3.
Noted authors Chetan Bhagat, MJ Akbar and others will be attending and addressing different panels.