The Guardian has asked several writers around the world this question.
I recently stumbled upon these responses published in Guardian in 2017. The headline was “The Writing Life of Writers Around the World”.
Although these essays were all written in 2017 before the Covid crisis, they are still very up to date because they highlight many of the perspectives that have been pushed into the background by the Covid crisis, but still exist.
Join a tour de force through…
… Bangladesh (where freedom of expression is strongly threatened),
… Istanbul in Turkey (where the big city and the country are changing at a colossal pace),
… Mexico City (which is both cosmopolitan as well as ugly and chaotic),
… Jutland in Denmark (where a few wolves roam in more ways than one),
… And Afghanistan (which is still a land of land full of poetry, storytelling, fables and folk tales even though there has been war for more than one generation)
These essays may inspire to read on: all 5 authors have works translated into English, and they also introduce us to other authors from their countries.
God rejse / bon voyage /have a good trip!
Here are the 5 essays I have chosen for you:
Things we don't write: K Anis Ahmed on the murdered writers of Bangladesh
“Bangladeshi authors and bloggers, religious fanaticism is putting their security and freedom of speech at stake, in a level of repression only comparable to dictatorial regimes of the past. K Anis Ahmed explains what it means to be a writer in Bangladesh’s harrowing “new normal””.
The final words in this essay are “we are reminded that freedom is not something we inherit. It is something for which we may have to fight, again and again.”
click here
The last station: Burhan Sönmez on gentrification, fire and protest in Istanbul
“All Turkish authors are destined to write about Istanbul, sooner or later. While doing this very thing, author Sönmez examines the changing face of Turkey’s biggest city.”
click here
'You must embrace the ugliness': the writing life in Mexico City
“Novelist and essayist Daniel Saldaña París reflects on the poets, murderous cartels and piano tuners found in the Mexican capital.”
click here
A wolf in Jutland: Dorthe Nors on the writing life in Denmark
“As she returns to nature in her native Jutland, author Dorthe Nors reflects on the state of Scandinavian literature – from why crime fiction dominates publishing to why she wishes Danish men would read more.”
click here
'How can they write about anything but pain?' The writing life in Afghanistan
“Emerging Afghan writer Fazilhaq Hashimi looks back at an upbringing surrounded by war, even in language – and reclaims his country’s past status as the land of poetry, story-telling, fables and folktale.”
click here
What characterizes your life?
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Teach GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP Newsletter no. 42
Everyone, who is engaged in developing global citizenship, is welcome to receive these thematic introductions & curated learning possibilities.
August 2021, Copenhagen, Denmark
Egon Hedegaard
Thanks goes Glenn Schweitzer for editing.
Links to all blog posts: click
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