Pulitzer winner author ‘rejected rejection letters’

Paul Harding urges writers to block outside world while writing.

ISLAMABAD:

For aspiring writers and readers alike, “Winning the Pulitzer Prize’’ was a thought provoking and stimulating experience. This session with Paul Harding was moderated by Shandana Minhas. His prize-winning book ‘Tinkers’, however, was not the only focus.

As he went back to his days as an aspiring writer, Harding told the audience of the initial struggle to get published in the face of numerable rejection letters from publishers — some formal, others ruthlessly critical.

“But I rejected those rejection letters” Harding said.  He further explained that the reaction of publishers not liking his work was actually a liberating experience, as after that, he never felt bound to write what others (publishers) would like.

When asked about the experience of winning the Pulitzer Prize, Harding said that he is not a famous author, just someone who has written a famous book. “It’s a much bigger deal than I had ever thought. It is like winning the lottery among hundreds of book entries competing against yours, but people who have read my art believe that Pulitzer Prize is just a token of appreciation and recognition,” he said.



The author was of the view that winning a literature prize is a rowdy state of affairs, just like a boxing ring where half the crowd thinks you deserve it and the rest would say that he just got lucky.

Speaking on the author’s approach of taking inspiration and writing, Harding explained that once you begin to write, you have to block the outside world and climb into the world of art and another consciousness.

“I always tell young writers to try and write something that you would want to read first and always assume that you are writing for audience much sharper and smarter than you are”.

The author strongly disagreed with the notion that managing a family while writing can be a blocker for a writer’s imagination. “I wrote fiction when my children were crawling over me, one complete well thought sentence at a time, that’s how I wrote a full novel.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 26^th, 2015.