Quiet resilience of storytelling. Notes from Dublin Literature Festivals
How many times have I taken notes to capture a life-changing observation, only to never return to it. Ever. In the moment, there is nothing more quintessential. A few moments later, the next quote lands on top of the pile. The alchemy of distracted mind. Chasing too many stories at a time.
How many times are we starting (or quitting) a diet / exercise program / improved relationship / healthy habits / unhealthy habits (feel free to circle as many as you want), only to realize inertia creeped in far too heavy?
This is a ‘better late than never’ moment. I attended a series of refreshing sessions during International Literature Festival Dublin and Dalkey Book Festival in late May and mid-June. Now, as sun is scorching lawns and slowing runners down in Dublin, I am diving deep into my handwritten notes in a 2 by 4-inch notepad I usually keep handy. 2 by 4 is not a lot of paper. Each account is a few observations or quotes from the authors that struck a chord. What follows is a single point each. Let’s see how the letting go goes.
Uncomfortable being ourselves, we disappear into lives of others. Obliteration by somebody else’s narrative.
Non realist fiction can bring life to many aspects of life that realist fiction cannot.
Authors fall into traps of running away from themselves and trying to write like somebody else. Well, you are you. Not J.R.R. Tolkien!
The greatest quality of a writer is persistence. Collection of rejection slips is just a flipside of self-belief.
Storytellers follow characters on their messy journeys with quiet, humble resilience. If we are lucky, we witness secular acts of faith – theirs or their authors. A rare nuance contrasting with otherwise deluge of information, making us angry or apathetic.
‘You only have 3 hours to draw a tree’. Observe, do nothing, wait for things to unfold – before you apply a sharp instrument.
Can we really trust our own memories? How do we know that something really happened? Are we far from a point when we will be reinventing our past, our loved ones, our origin stories?
Reinforcement of external threat is the easiest way for regimes to solidify existence.
Sometimes there is more truth in attending a funeral in a remote village than in months of mainstream news coverage.
Use rest as surge capacity, not weakness. Every system should be built for redundancy so why do we treat human body differently?
The game theory is only applicable if somebody actually cares to play with us.
There should not be a shame in bringing joy – both in the act of writing, and to readers. Sometimes it is as easy as connecting with our younger selves.
‘I start with the first sentence. And then I ask: who said that? And why?’
‘Having spent Adam’s first teenage year around him, I grew even more certain that he was a fire dragon incidentally born into a body of a boy.’
How about that as first sentence? I already know who said that.
Doireann Ni Ghrioffa ‘Said The Dead’
Jan Carson ‘Few and Far Between’
Dave Rudden ‘Sister Wake’
Rob Doyle ‘Cameo’
Elif Shafak ‘There Are Rivers In The Sky’
Hisham Matar ‘My Friends’
Neil Jordan ‘The Library of Traumatic Memory’
Ramita Navai ‘City of Lies’
Sally Hayden ‘This Is Also a Love Story’
Zahaan Bharmal ‘How physics can change your life’
Michael Wooldridge ‘Life Lessons from Game Theory’
Naomi Ishiguro ‘The Rainshadow Orphans’
Liz Nugent ‘The Truth About Ruby Cooper’
