The directors and producers of Jaipur Literature Festival presents Brave New World — a digital series of literary conversations on issues central to our times. One session was The Boundary, in which Pulitzer prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri was in conversation with book publisher and co-founder of Juggernaut Books Chiki Sarkar (you can watch it on this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAfKvGfXZuI) .
Talking of the role of writers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jhumpa replied over email, “They should do what they normally do, which is to listen vigilantly to others and absorb and reflect upon what is happening in the world around them. That is my state of mind. And I am reading in order to nurture myself, to communicate with other writers and with their invented characters. Again, this is what writers always do. But now reading is not only one of the only forms of pleasure and peace in the day, but also has assumed even greater urgency. So much of literature is about isolation, alienation, longing, loss, also endurance and perseverance. Almost everything I am reading now, whether it is Dracula or Dante, gives my keys to get through the days. The great works are always relevant, always revelatory. I don't think this is a time to write. Too many people are suffering, and I am too aware of it.”
