7 months ago
Kiran Desai Discusses Nationalism, Immigration, and Palestine
Kiran Desai, a famous author, talked about her new book at a festival in India.
She shared her thoughts on big topics like immigration, nationalism, and the situation in Palestine.
She said that both the US and India have changed a lot, which made her interested in writing about these changes.
She also talked about how people can change their minds and how some people support leaders like Donald Trump.
She believes that everyone should speak up about important issues, even if it's difficult.
She also gave advice to new writers to protect their time and be selfish with their work.
She thinks it's important to be kind and support other writers, but also acknowledged that not all writers are kind.
Kiran Desai discussed her new book, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, at the Kerala Literature Festival.
She shared her views on nationalism, immigration, and the Palestine issue, highlighting the changes in the US and India.
Desai mentioned the shock experienced by the Indian community in the US due to changing immigration policies.
She emphasized the importance of speaking up about human rights and the need for organizations like PEN America to take a stronger stance.
Desai advised young writers to be selfish with their work, protect their time, and learn to say no.
- Who
- Kiran Desai, an acclaimed author known for her Man Booker Prize-winning novel The Inheritance of Loss.
- What
- An interview with Kiran Desai discussing her new book, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, and her views on nationalism, immigration, and the Palestine issue.
- Where
- Kozhikode beach.
- When
- During the Kerala Literature Festival.
- Why
- To promote her new book and share her perspectives on various social and political issues.
Key facts
- Author
- Kiran Desai
- Book
- The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny
- Award
- Man Booker Prize (2006)
- Event
- Kerala Literature Festival
- Location
- Kozhikode beach
- Themes
- Immigration, Nationalism, Abusive Relationships, Love, Palestine
- Advice to Writers
- Be selfish about your work, learn to say no, protect your time and space.
Quotes
Kiran Desai
Author of The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny and The Inheritance of Loss
“I think the assumption is that if you are an educated woman, you are not going to be in an abusive relationship. Yet the truth is that we live in a world of enormous power divides. That includes gender divides, race divides, class divides, and all kinds of privilege divides. These divides make it possible for abuse to take root. That has not changed with modernity and education, in the personal sphere and the political sphere. This is a world where enormous abuse is taking place in homes and in the world outside the home. With characters like Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as political leaders, look at the kind of power abuse going on in war zones. Think of how immensely vulnerable women, religious minorities, and LGBTQ people are.”
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“I do feel that there should be free speech. But we also have to acknowledge that there cannot be free speech for those who are destroying free speech. People who say that we should bring everyone to the table often don’t take this into account. If the people you are talking to are responsible for suppressing other persons, you may not want to be on stage with them. I, for one, would certainly not want to share a stage with such people. But again, this tends to get really hard. You are not always aware of who you are speaking to and how they think. As a writer, if you spend 20 years in isolation, you are a bit naive about how the book world actually works.”
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