MJ Mngadi and Malian writer Ousmane Diarra discussed Telling Stories, Bridging Divides, at the 2015 Time of the Writer Festival on Wednesday.
The event was held at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and facilitated by Bernard de Meyer.
Mngadi, a UKZN alumnus, was awarded a South African Literary Awards Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, and won a M-Net Literary Award in African Languages in 2013.
Mngadi’s Asikho ndawo bakithi is the first isiZulu novel to be translated into French, as On est foutu.
Writer, poet and children’s book author Diarra lost his parents at the age of two, and growing up in drought-stricken Mali decided that in order to get through life he would need to devour books. He now works as a librarian at the French Institute in Mali, and is the author of the much acclaimed Vieux Lézard and most recently La route des clameurs.
Diarra and Mngadi were asked by an audience member if they had ever been overwhelmed by a story they wanted to tell.
“No matter the story, how tough it is, I must write them” Diarra said, speaking through a translator. “I don’t fear writing a story. Unless it doesn’t inspire me.”
“If you have got a story that overwhelms you,” Mngadi added, “the only way to write it is to just take the pen, and the paper, and just write. Just write anything, and put it aside. Write something else. Then one day, you take those pages, you peruse it, and then you re-edit it, re-edit it, re-edit it. Don’t allow it to overwhelm you.
“You must be a disciplined writer. Just like if you are a football player you must be a disciplined player. Discipline is most important.”
Mngadi expanded on his advice for aspiring writers, saying that it is as necessary to be as dedicated to writing as to any other profession.
“Writers are readers. Readers are writers,” he said. “You need to read so many books, any type of book, anything your eyes come across, read and read and read. Study other writers to see how they do it. If you are a doctor or a lawyer, you need to know the craft, the skills, of the profession. If you are a writer, it is the same.
“You need to be dedicated. When I start writing a book, sometimes I take my computer to my study, and I sit down, and I nearly cry. Because I know that I will be alone for the whole year! You are always lonely, even if you have a darling, you see?”
Diarra added: “In my case I would say there are a lot of things to say about procedures,” Diarra said, “mostly that I’m from an oral culture, so the influence of orality is very strong in what I’m doing. Also, I’m a storyteller, the imagination of stories comes into writing for me.”
The conversation turned to the dangers involved in choosing writing as a career.
Mngadi said: “There are also risks involved in writing. When you say something other people don’t like you to say, you could end up in the grave! But you need to take those chances.”
For Diarra, who has incurred the wrath of Muslim groups in Mali with his work and his statements, says his writing process is very influenced by his environment.
“Whenever you decide to start writing, risks are there,” he said. “You are exposed. In a society where people don’t want to allow others to think, people who are pushing themselves to think and ask questions for themselves are taking risks.”
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Pictures from the event:
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