I spent a wonderful evening in the company of Pulitzer prize-winning novelist Michael Cunningham, me and about ninety others, at Passaporta in Rue Antoine Dansaert. Cunningham read from his latest work, By Nightfall and engaged in an enlightening and honest discussion with Belgian TV and radio presenter, Chantal Pattyn, who made an excellent interlocutor.Cunningham spoke about the practice of writing, literature, music, art and politics, highlighting the intersection between the various forms, and was engagingly refreshing. His reading and talk inspired me to buy By Nightfall, which he kindly signed for me, and I have since begun reading my first book of fiction in many, many years. So far, so good.
By Nightful is proving to be unputdownable. Economical with language but rich in tension, character and dialogue, it reminds me of why I've avoided fiction for so long, purely selfish reasons, of course. Reading good fiction highlights my own limitations as a writer and leaves me in awe of just how gifted certain writers are, a skill that you're born with, a natural talent that can't be taught. Because of this, fiction has often stifled me rather than inspired me.
Great storytellers, fiction and non-fiction, are needed now more than ever, in these uncertain times, to provide us with a source of much-needed escapism and/or to chronicle our unprecedented struggles - social, political and economic - in narrative form. I left Michael Cunningham's talk in admiration of his talent but encouraged to develop my own.
Another fantastic event from the team at Passaporta. The date of next year's festival is already in the diary!
Michael Cunningham is the author of the novels A Home at the End of the World, Flesh and Blood, The Hours (winner of the Pen/Faulkner Award & Pulitzer Prize), and Specimen Days. He lives in New York.
Update - video from the event
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