by Jay
One of the many interesting things to do around Buffalo is the Babel series. Every year, Just Buffalo Literary Center brings in 4 authors, international up to this point, to discuss their works. This has been my first year attending; when I saw the roster of speakers, I bought season tickets. So far, I've seen A.S. Byatt and Ha Jin, and last night, Azar Nafisi spoke. Her best-known work is "Reading Lolita in Tehran," and given the uprising in Tehran after the elections, I was very eager to see her.
Ms. Fafisi is by far the most dynamic speaker to date; she is genuinely passionate about literature and education. She claims that she wants an amendment to our constitution that guarantees the right to imagination because only with imagination can we obtain empathy. Her talk was the most political of the three that I've seen, which I of course loved. (The previous two were more about their writing processes, which is also fascinating; as a non-writer, I'm always in awe of successful fiction authors.) Ms. Nafisi also seemed greatly influenced by the philosophy of Mikhail Bakhtin, which would make sense because his works were re-discovered around the time she returned to Iran.
Next up is Salman Rushdie, who I am dying to meet. I have to figure out a way to sneak backstage. I would try to flirt my way in, but the dude was married to Padma Lakshmi, fer crissake. I don't have enough time between now and then to get a complete face and body overhaul. Dammit.
She sounds amazing. Love that she wants an amemdment to our constition that guarantees the right to imagination! I want one now too!
Posted by: Kels | 03/07/2010 at 05:30 AM