Published in the Sunday Times
Authors are people too. We tend to forget that. Plenty of them prefer to remain behind the scenes, insulating their creative souls from the glare of publicity, so they can focus on writing the words for their characters to speak. We readers place them on platforms and want to meet them, engage with them about how they write, what inspires them …
Authors know that to sell their books they have to put themselves out there, and do so willingly, despite perhaps being embarrassed or shy. They share parts of themselves on social media, at book festivals, or in the supermarket aisle.
Maybe that’s why the books written under the pseudonym Elena Ferrante were refreshing. You had to read them without knowing who the author was; all you had were her words in her books. When she was outed recently there was outrage; people asked why it was necessary. If you want to know who she is, Google her, but her desire to remain anonymous should be respected.
Patrick Gale wrote in The Guardian this month that writers “tend towards the shy and solitary end of the personality spectrum”, and so he started the North Cornwall Book Festival to suit their temperament. “I kept it small … and we encourage any authors who aren’t local to stay for the whole thing, so they have time to befriend each other and leave having done more than simply talk and sign copies.”
Gale is candid, cool and calm – you would not think him shy, but he says he is. If you have not read his searing take on what happened in the prairies in Canada during the 1900s – A Place Called Winter – do yourself a favour and check it out.
My last three meetings with authors were noteworthy experiences. They were simply charming people. They all understand their place in the world and are trying to make it a different place.
First up was Wilbur Smith. He and his wife, Mokhiniso, were entertaining company. His latest book, Pharaoh, went immediately to no. 1 in South Africa. Even if you don’t like his novels or what you believe his nature to be, Wilbur and Niso are adding to the books community through their foundation, whose aim is to find and encourage adventure writing.
I also met Nomavenda Mathiane, who is full of warmth and joy. A former journalist, she has stories for days. Her book Eyes in the Night, about her grandmother’s experiences during the Anglo-Zulu wars, makes one angry then sad. But Nomavenda herself makes one hopeful for a better future.
The third author I interviewed was Richard Mason. His first book The Drowning People was a sensation in 1999 – he wrote it when he was just 21. He knows what is possible, what is good, what living for others is about – a true philanthropist, he started an education centre with the help of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It was wonderful to spend an hour with such an inspirational person, who is making such a difference in the Eastern Cape, where he has based his latest novel Who Killed Piet Barol?
Authors are human too, and often such good people.
Follow Jennifer Platt on Twitter @Jenniferdplatt
Book details
- Pharaoh by Wilbur Smith
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EAN: 9780007535811
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- Eyes in the Night: An Untold Zulu Story by Nomavenda Mathiane
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EAN: 9781928257240
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- The Drowning People by Richard Mason
EAN: 9780753828410
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- Who Killed Piet Barol? by Richard Mason
EAN: 9781474602341
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