The Writer As Activist
By Elizabeth Solar
Note: In several upcoming posts I will examine the role of writer as activist, through interviews with contemporary writers, research on cause and effect of reading fiction and activism, and today’s overview. Thanks for reading.
No picket signs rest on my front lawn. I eschew bumper stickers of all kinds. When pollsters call to autopsy my voting choices, I plead the Fifth. Like so many other ornery and private New Englanders, I hesitate to wear my political views on my sleeve. Dishing politics and policy is generally a members-only discussion, reserved for my nearest and dearest.
Following recent world events, I have reconsidered my position, and reflect on how I will use my role as a writer to participate in the groundswell of actions that has arisen within artistic circles.
Last Sunday, Boston’s vibrant writers community convened for a counter-inaugural demonstration, and support of free expression. Hundreds of poets, novelists, journalists, and essayists gathered at Boston Public Library for Writers Resist. Held concurrently in many U.S. cities nationwide, and co-sponsored by PEN American, ‘Resist’ was established to ‘re-inaugurate the [writer’s] commitment to the fundamental principles of democracy.’ From what I could glean, our mission is just getting started.
Earlier this month Meryl Streep accepted of a lifetime achievement award with a call to action against bullying culture, and “…a reminder of the privilege and the responsibility of the act of empathy.” Streep spoke as if steered by a moral imperative. Many praised her eloquence and grace to express what so many have felt. Critics lambasted her, and told her to stick to acting – second-rate acting, at that. – Furthermore, Harrumph! artists have no place in conversations involving politics and policy.
In a post apoca-lection world, there is a drum – or is that Trump? -- beat, followed by the rhythmic March of the Creatives. Our message is clear: We have laptops, musical theatre, and snarky comedy, and we’re not afraid to use it.
What place, if any does activism have in the artist’s, specifically the fiction writer’s life?
Writer as activist is nothing new. Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou and James Baldwin share, then invite us to understand their experience of racism, abuse and violence through stunning and beautiful prose. Margaret Atwood, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Doris Lessing give voice to women’s issues, and advance the cause of human rights. Alexandr Solzhenitsyn reveals one man’s struggle to maintain dignity inside the cruel confines of a Soviet forced labor camp.
As readers, we enter unknown worlds, and in the discovery of ‘the other’ we may change our opinion, our worldview, perhaps even our actions. Who knows? It could make us kinder people. A University of Toronto study concluded. “The more fiction a person read, the better they empathized.” As writers, we are tour guides through new regions, trailblazers into unexplored territory. Maybe we travel on a well-worn road through familiar places via a completely different route.
In any case, words have the power to move, so use them lovingly and judiciously. While I, as many others, will be engaged in marches, meetings, and causes to advance freedoms for all, and maintain a vibrant press, my primary mission is to continue to do what a writer does: Use the solitary hours behind the keyboard to tell a story as true as I know how, to share with you a precious discovery about the human condition. I want to ask what you think about it, how it makes you feel, and what is true for you. Let’s have a conversation, so we can try to understand each other. So we don’t feel alone. Which may be the most radical action any writer can take.
