I love this style of writing Yassmin, the critique, the questioning, the exploration and with no intention to round it off with a pretty bow, it feels like a question that I’m taking with me, into my world, about what my role with words is, if I’m fulfilling it, and if it even makes any difference anyway. From a self-indulgent perspective, if I FEEL my words; that is my guide on what and how to write. I also acknowledge the deep privilege I have to even experiment here with my art.
Everybody has their tool, and some have numbers of them - so isn't it that we use the ones we have? Writers do language and some tell stories because that is the way they are most effective. Others orate on a stage. Of course, yes, demagogues are great storytellers, but doesn't that mean it's even more important for those who seek a higher truth, who question deeply and who want to reveal and lead others to a more just world to tell a different story? Some will write stories of justice, some will spruik them, some will act them out. We need them all, in every medium, and especially in the enduring medium of writing, as many as we can gather together, to counter and replace the seductive stories of bigots and Borises.
I love this style of writing Yassmin, the critique, the questioning, the exploration and with no intention to round it off with a pretty bow, it feels like a question that I’m taking with me, into my world, about what my role with words is, if I’m fulfilling it, and if it even makes any difference anyway. From a self-indulgent perspective, if I FEEL my words; that is my guide on what and how to write. I also acknowledge the deep privilege I have to even experiment here with my art.
Thank you for this rich essay!
Everybody has their tool, and some have numbers of them - so isn't it that we use the ones we have? Writers do language and some tell stories because that is the way they are most effective. Others orate on a stage. Of course, yes, demagogues are great storytellers, but doesn't that mean it's even more important for those who seek a higher truth, who question deeply and who want to reveal and lead others to a more just world to tell a different story? Some will write stories of justice, some will spruik them, some will act them out. We need them all, in every medium, and especially in the enduring medium of writing, as many as we can gather together, to counter and replace the seductive stories of bigots and Borises.