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A few weeks ago, I went to the wonderful Ubud Writer's Festival which I highly recommend for those people wishing to combine literary delights with the tropical paradise of Bali.
As part of the festival, I went to Meet the Bookers featuring Thomas Keneally, author of “Schindler's Ark” (winner 1982) and Anne Enright, author of “The Gathering” (winner 2007). It was a timely event given the Booker Prize winner (2010) has just been announced as Howard Jacobson for ‘The Finkler Question'.
The following points are from handwritten notes I took in the session based on what they discussed about writing, the Booker Prize and being published.
- Anne Enright talked about the Booker and how it affected sales of “The Gathering”. It had sold several thousand copies before the prize and went on to sell hundreds of thousands afterwards. There is an aspect of being lucky in winning it, as there are so many deserving books. They talked about the ‘culture of the winner' and how that affects the literary world. Perhaps the Prize is too big now as it takes the ‘literary wind' from other deserving books. Anne mentioned how she was “wearing out the shoe leather keeping the book on the shelves” prior to the Booker. She talked about doing 38 interviews the day after the Booker and how the organizer's PR give the shortlist authors a 5 day schedule in case they win. It's a media circus!
- Winning the prize is an incredible validation as the greatest fear writers have is that they're not really writers. Validation is important to us all.
- Keneally on writing “faction” i.e. fiction based on fact. The writer can't afford to make deliberate misinterpretation but can use textures characteristic of the novel. He also noted that publishers love controversy around books because of the publicity but it can be very hard on the author. He also mentioned how most of his writing work has been done since he won the Booker but Schindler is still the book people talk about because of the Prize.
- They discussed the impact of Catholicism on their writing. Keneally spent 6 years in a seminary and noted that the theology and mythology has an effect on his writing. Religion may be hell to go through but it gives terrific material for writing. The magic of transubstantiation, the metaphor of transformation, turning something base into holy.
- Keneally talked about how the novel redeemed him and saw him through his early life. He also noted that his first novel would not be published now, as back then publishers/editors took risks and helped writers grow whereas now they need a sure thing. He said ‘it's a miracle the young get published'. He talked about how when he was young he was arrogant enough to believe the world needed his books and now he knows he's the only one who needs them. His experience means he can leave writing to go play with his grandchildren and not worry about where the book will land while he is gone. (He is 75 now)
- Enright talked about writing with children as like ‘jumping off a cliff and landing on a ledge'. She gave the example of Alice Munro writing on the end of her ironing board.
- Keneally talked about books being optioned for movies. How so many are optioned but then most options expire and go nowhere. ‘Schindler's Ark' was renamed ‘Schindler's List' by the US publisher and Spielberg wanted the visual of the list so the name stuck. Books should not be written specifically for movies as it is so unlikely to happen. Keneally also used the word ‘property' as it applies to books. At the end of the day, it is a product.
- Enright on using real people in books. “Real people are more important than books” so don't hurt people. Stealing widely from characters is fine but stitching them together so they are unrecognizable is important.
- Keneally “My favourite book is the one I am writing at the moment. It's flaws and limitations haven't been exposed yet“
It was a fantastic session and wonderful to hear such great writers talk about their work in person. You can find both author's books on Amazon.com.
Click here for ‘Schindler's List‘ by Thomas Keneally and ‘Searching for Schindler', the memoir based on the writing of the book.
Click here for ‘The Gathering' by Anne Enright
What do you think of the Booker Prize? Do you always buy from the shortlist or the winner?
View Comments (1)
Funny, I picked up Anne Enright's "The Gathering" from the library earlier this week! Thanks for this, Joanna :)