A woman from the audience was asking Anthony
Lawrence and Eileen Chong a question. It seemed she was about to burst into
tears with every croaky word she spoke. I had heard her in the last session
too. She went on and on about herself and I was beginning to get exasperated. I
looked around to see the reaction of everyone else in the room. My eyes
alighted on Sharon Olds.
In contrast to everyone else, she had a look of concern and interest on her
face as she stared at the grey, teary woman. I realised that Sharon was a woman
of supreme kindness and empathy. I realised that when Sharon said she only knew
how to write about real life, she was telling the truth. Her poems are all
tinged with kindness and I haven’t read one that is hateful or bitter. Even
when she writes about her ex husband she infers warmth and love. I feel like
divorced couples are capable of incomparable hate and vehement yet she shows
none of this. And I do not believe she hides it either.
Strangely, this made me worry and I felt uneasy. I wasn't brimming with good thoughts and empathy. I was
rolling my eyes at this brave woman. How was I going to sell any books with my narcissistic
attitude and scathing manner?
I let myself fret for about 2 minutes before I remembered all the weird and
sadistic books I had read that weren't all about love and daisy chains. The book Lolita
by Vladamir Nabokov is literally about a paedophile obsessed with nymphets and its considered one
of the greats. Its about how you write not what you write. Oh Lewis, you have outdone yourself.
My mind came back to where I was, question time was over and everyone was
leaving. I picked up my things and left with my classmates. As soon as we were
free of the throng of people, one of my classmates said “Can you believe that woman?”
I smiled.
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