Negotiating with the Dead by Margaret Atwood

Author:Margaret Atwood
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Web Books Publishing
Published: 2011-04-22T23:00:00+00:00

its intent is clarity

it must forget

nothing[32]

This is the eye of the scribe of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian Underworlds, or of the recording angel of the Christian Heaven. The eye is cold because it is clear, and it is clear because its owner must look: he must look at everything. Then she must record.

How is the writer to determine his or her position in relation to the rest of humanity? Where on the ladder of power should he take his place, if indeed such a place is even on offer any more? How to choose? As I've said, I have no answers. But I've indicated some of the possibilities, some of the dangers that may lurk; some of the conundrums. As for advice, should you be a young writer — I could say, as Alice Munro has said, 'Do what you want and live with the consequences.' Or I could say, 'Go where the story takes you.' Or I could say, 'Take care of the writing, and the social relevance will take care of itself.'

And this in fact is true, because the secret is — and you are welcome to use it at any panel discussion you may find yourself serving on - the secret is that it isn't the writer who decides whether or not his work is relevant. Instead it's the reader. And it is to the reader that we will turn our attention in the next chapter.

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