Hi Tom, William Dalrymple and Michael Wood agreed with you in not agreeing with Vish Tiwariâs point about travel without purpose. Michael Wood said the joy of spontaneous, unplanned travel and going where the mood / spirit takes you often provides the most memorable journeys and experiences, from both a writing perspective and a life perspective. It was definitely an inspirational event and I hope I managed to convey that. I look forward to reading your own travel writing on Lucid soon:)
india 09: through fresh eyes travel writing
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By Sylvia Arthur
A panel of distinguished writers, journalists and critics for whom the pursuit of travel – the primal human instinct to move from one place to another - is the foundation of their respective (and respected) works, took to the stage at the British Library to discuss the art of travel writing.
Novelist Anita Nair, poet and critic Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, historian and writer William Dalrymple and filmmaker and broadcaster Michael Wood joined chair, travel writer Martin Buckley for a wonderfully engaging and interactive discussion that looked at the past., present and future of the genre.
Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari opened proceedings with a monologue about the purpose of travel. Speaking in English, the Hindi writer argued that travel satisfies “our curiosity to know something unknown and unseen” and “travel without purpose is like an unread book”. Anita Nair, who uses travel as a central theme in her novels, agreed saying, “Travel is a means of looking at life from a different angle. You have to be lost to find yourself. That’s the foundation of my work. My characters have to discover themselves through a journey within themselves and a physical journey. There has to be a shift in horizon. Each time I have to understand something I take a trip”.
William Dalrymple (above), who's written extensively about India and divides his time between London and Delhi, told the audience that “travel writing is about getting in to the soul of people and giving the kind of insight a novelist can give in non-fiction form”. He said one of the best books about India ever written is Suketu Metha’s Maximum City. “The job of a travel writer is to give a snapshot, a subjective viewpoint, when everything is new and extraordinary. As you get to know somewhere better, you see less. A good travel writer knows enough but not too much”. Michael Wood offered his own take: “The essence of good travel writing is the privilege you feel when people let you in to their world, their culture. It’s like a door opening, being initiated in to their world and welcomed in”.
The aim of India 09: Through Fresh Eyes is to open up Indian writing to UK audiences and its certainly done that. India’s abundance of contemporary literary talent, previously the preserve of the literati, has been duly showcased through this excellent series of events. And the British Council programme will undoubtedly do as much for Indian tourism as it does for Indian literature.
Travel Writing took place at the British Library on Monday, 20 April, 2009.
Comments
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(Posted on 2009-04-21 09:44:00 by )
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I'm not sure about Tiwari's assertion that âtravel without purpose is like an unread bookâ. To continue with the analogy, my own experience is that travel without purpose can be a little like an audio book - in the sense that with an open attitude and willingness to learn, there's a lot to be gained by simply goiing where the mood takes you (i'm also not sure about the need to take a 'trip' to understand something...).
But it's true that "as you get to know somewhere better, you see less". It's certainly true of where you live - and inspires me to start noting my impressions when i travel, somehow capture that sense of bewilderment and excitement of a new place.
(Posted on 2009-04-21 09:27:00 by )
Interesting feature but when viewed on Safari, the images overlap the text. Are you aware of this?