Writing Across Worlds: Contemporary Writers Talk

392 Pages·2004·2.64 MB·English

by  Susheila Nasta

Writing Across Worlds
Writing has always been a means of making crossings and forging connec-
tions between different worlds. However, some writers have found it hard to
reach an international audience; for decades the Western literary establish-
ment has been all too ready to sideline writers with mixed cultural or
migrant backgrounds as ‘marginal’, ‘multicultural’ or simply ‘other’. Since
its foundation in 1984 the literary magazine Wasafiri has focused on the
idea of the writer as someone who transports the imagination beyond
the maps of narrowly defined borders, and has promoted a range of new
and established voices as well as signposting new waves in contemporary
literature worldwide.
To celebrate Wasafiri’s twentieth anniversary, Writing Across Worlds
brings together a selection of interviews with major international writers
previously featured in the pages of the magazine. Conducted by a wide
constituency of distinguished critics, writers and journalists, the interviews
offer a unique insight into the views and work of a remarkable array of
acclaimed authors. They also chart a slow but certain cultural shift: those
once seen as ‘other’ have not only won many of the Establishment’s most
revered literary prizes but have also become central figures in contempor-
ary literature, writing across and into all of our real and imagined worlds.
With an introductory comment by Susheila Nasta, editor of Wasafiri,
this collection is essential reading for all those interested in contemporary
literature.
Susheila Nasta is a critic and broadcaster, the founding editor of
Wasafiri and a distinguished academic. Currently Reader in Literature
at the UK’s Open University, she has published widely in the field of
twentieth-century writing.

Writing Across Worlds
Contemporary writers talk
Edited by Susheila Nasta
First published 2004
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.
Editorial material and selection © 2004 Susheila Nasta
Interviews with Caryl Phillips, Kazuo Ishiguro, Michael Ondaatje,
Maggie Gee © Maya Jaggi
All other interviews © Wasafiri
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Writing across worlds: contemporary writers talk/edited by Susheila Nasta.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Authors–Interviews. I. Nasta, Susheila.
PN452. W75 2004
809–dc22 2004002923
ISBN 0-203-34248-8 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0–415–34566–9 (hbk)
ISBN 0–415–34567–7 (pbk)
To all those who write and form part of an ever-growing world of words

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
1 Sam Selvon with Susheila Nasta (1985) 12
2 Wole Soyinka with Mary David (1985) 20
3 Wilson Harris with Fred D’Aguiar (1986) 33
4 Lorna Goodison with Denise deCaires Narain (1989) 45
5 Chinua Achebe with Chris Searle (1991) 58
6 Moyez Vassanji with Susheila Nasta (1991) 69
7 Jamaica Kincaid with Gerhard Dilger (1992) 80
8 Joan Riley with Aamer Hussein (1992) 93
9 V. S. Naipaul with Alastair Niven (1993) 102
10 Caryl Phillips with Maya Jaggi (1994) 113
11 Salman Rushdie with Alastair Niven (1994) 125
12 Nayantara Sahgal with Minoli Salgado (1994) 136
13 Vikram Seth with Sudeep Sen (1994) 148
14 Kazuo Ishiguro with Maya Jaggi (1995) 159
15 Maxine Hong Kingston with Maggie Ann Bowers (1995) 171
16 George Lamming with Caryl Phillips (1996) 183
17 Rohinton Mistry with Robert Mclay (1996) 198
18 Keri Hulme with Rima Alicia Bartlett (1997) 207
viii Contents
19 Amit Chaudhuri with Fernando Galvàn (1998) 216
20 David Dabydeen with Mark Stein (1998) 229
21 Jackie Kay with Richard Dyer (1999) 237
22 Michael Ondaatje with Maya Jaggi (2000) 250
23 Zadie Smith with Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina (2000) 266
24 Bernardine Evaristo with Alastair Niven (2001) 279
25 Ama Ata Aidoo with Nana Wilson-Tagoe (2002) 292
26 Maggie Gee with Maya Jaggi (2002) 301
27 Nadine Gordimer with Hermione Lee (2003) 315
28 Ngugi wa Thiong’o with Harish Trivedi (2003) 327
29 Monica Ali with Diran Adebayo (2004) 340
30 Abdulrazak Gurnah with Susheila Nasta (2004) 352
31 Marina Warner with Robert Fraser (2004) 364
Among the Contributors 376
Acknowledgements
This book celebrates twenty years in the history of Wasafiri. The maga-
zine’s survival since 1984 has been dependent on the generous support
of a number of different institutions and funding bodies including, first
of all, the University of Kent, and more recently the Arts Council of
England, London Arts, the School of English and Drama, Queen Mary
College (where it has been housed since 1992) and the Open University.
My thanks go to all of these different bodies, which have enabled the
financial and material survival of the magazine in different ways.
Publication could not have been sustained, however, without the hard
work of the many people who have been connected with the magazine
for the past twenty years. Day-to-day editorial tasks and subscription
management have worked only because of the labour and dedication of
the editorial staff, who have struggled, often against the odds, to ensure
publication, distribution and sales.
Invaluable advice has also always been provided by a committed
editorial board of internationally distinguished writers and critics.
Many have guest-edited special issues, read copy, introduced new
writers and are also amongst the contributors to this book. I am par-
ticularly grateful as far as this celebratory birthday volume is concerned
to all the writers interviewed, for their generous help with reviewing,
editing and updating some of the material, as well as to those who