Writers deliberate on why they write at Young Writers’ festival

Writing is often a solitary process and while great fictions can transport one into a different world, for many authors there is “nothing like pure fiction” and all forms of writing are necessarily personal and embedded with politics.

“Writing is very personal. There is nothing called pure fiction,” city-based journalist and author Humra Quraishi said. The author of two non-fictions was participating at the Young Writers’ festival organised by the Sahitya Akademi here.

Talking about the process of writing, she said literary works by individuals were nothing but reflections of themselves. The writings would therefore be a product of their experiences from their surroundings, making each work distinct from the other.

“There is no structured framework for literary works as each work is unique. There will be influence of surroundings on each writing. You cannot write from vacuum,” she said.

For Kerala-based author Remya Sanjeev, it is an individual’s political ideology that makes for a major chunk of his or her writings.

“Each work is political in some way or the other and reflects the author’s political ideology. What we write and what we do not write defines our politics,” she said.

Writing for her is a process that vindicates her very existence.“It is through my writings that I say that I exist...To keep myself alive,” she said.

Bengali author Raka Dasgupta writes because it gives her an opportunity to introspect and have a dialogue with herself.

Memories from her childhood spent in the foothills of Himalayas and from the city of Kolkata, where she currently lives, are recurrent in her writings.

“The most important place for a writer to explore is the mind. At the end of the day each literary work is a form of personal diary,” she said.

However, she clarified that what she writes is not an exact a replica of reality, but she tries to “unearth herself” through the process of writing.

Finding it difficult to answer why she writes, Uttar Pradesh-based Hindi author Upasana Nirav said she does that to “articulate her own expressions”.

“It is important for an author to touch the hearts of readers. If there is nothing in a work that can relate to the reader’s life and the atmosphere around him, it would be really difficult to continue further,” she said, emphasising that it is important for a writer to think from the readers’ points of view as well.

Marathi writer Nitin Ridhe feels that writing “connects the writer’s world with others”, thus building a relationship between the two.

As a part of the festival, which came to an end Friday, young writers in 23 recognised Indian languages from across the country were given the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar. They were awarded a cheque of '50,000 besides an engraved copper plaque.