After settling into
my new life on a farm in New Zealand, and although I live in my rural
wonderland, I’m daily aware of the issues which face us all, and tackle them in
my writing. What with the rise of fascism again in Europe and a world where
corporate greed and selfishness seem to prevail with little thought about
society I’ll not run short of inspiration.
As life gets
harder for most of us, struggle will be reflected in literature— in art—as it
always has. I could mention George Eliot, William Blake, Balzac, Thomas Hardy, Mark
Twain, Henry James, William Morris, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, William
Golding, Margaret Atwood, J.G. Ballard and many more who wanted to explore the problems
each of us face within society.
Shelagh Delaney
just came to mind. ‘A Taste of Honey.’ Set in industrial Salford and first on
stage in London in 1958. The play explores gender, sexual orientation, race and
class. Poverty. A few generations of my family
lived in the city—for over a century from 1807 to the 1912. Infant mortality—high.
Living conditions terrible amongst the poor. I went to university there in the
1980’s. ‘A Taste of Honey.’ That play is firmly rooted in the theatre of
realism. Exploring themes with honesty and compassion…add John Osborne, Lynne
Reid Banks, and ‘Cathy Come Home’ By Jeremy Sandford, amongst others. As
‘austerity’ cuts make their mark we are taking that awful backward step and
class is once more thrust before us. That word seems outdated. How about simply
the divide between the rich and the poor which is getting larger each year,
now. Where once I saw hope I feel sadness. Hunger, in the so-called first world
countries, should now be a thing of the past. Monsanto. Monopoly. Madness. Since
when did you hear the word monopoly and ever think that a good thing. In a game
perhaps and yes perhaps we could call this a war game of sorts where the only
winners are the large corporations. Nothing for the poor. In 2013.
I’m reading
Ballard’s ‘High Rise’ again, too. ‘Lord of the Flies’ comes back to me time and
time again. Ray Bradbury and ‘Fahrenheit 451’. Perhaps in reading these I’m
hoping that it will never get that bad.
After all this
what is my point? My advice to new writers. Write what you want. Write about
what you believe in. Be brave. Write for yourself. Be honest. Don’t hold back. Words have power. Perhaps they
can change the world. Say what you feel you need to say.
Allyson
Bird now lives and farms in the Wairarapa Valley, New Zealand.
Occasionally she is drawn to strange places and people and they are
occasionally drawn to her. Her favourite playground, as a child and
adult, has been the village graveyard. Once she wondered what would
happen if she took one of the green stones from a grave. She has been
looking over her shoulder ever since but has never given it back.
Accomplishments : Winner of the HWA Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a first novel 2011 for 'Isis Unbound.' Winner of the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Collection 2009
for 'Bull Running for Girls.'
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