Sola Osofisan
07-20-2007, 02:33 PM
Brief excerpt from a conversation Molara Wood (http://www.bbc.co.uk/africabeyond/africanarts/19163.shtml)had with Caine Prize 2007 shortlisted E.C. Osondu:
What next for you, writing-wise?
I have a short story collection that my hardworking Agent Jin Auh of The Wylie Agency is trying to place. I guess the respectable thing to say is that one is working on a novel, so I will go ahead and say it; I’m working on a novel.Two questions spring to mind:
[1]Are all writers of the short stories expected to eventually become novelists, like many actors sooner or later want to direct?
[2]Secondly, is it implied here that a writer of fiction will only be taken as a serious when s/he writes long form?
I wonder how writers of short stories feel when even the great Caine Prize remains only a stepping stone to the next great novel/ist...
What next for you, writing-wise?
I have a short story collection that my hardworking Agent Jin Auh of The Wylie Agency is trying to place. I guess the respectable thing to say is that one is working on a novel, so I will go ahead and say it; I’m working on a novel.Two questions spring to mind:
[1]Are all writers of the short stories expected to eventually become novelists, like many actors sooner or later want to direct?
[2]Secondly, is it implied here that a writer of fiction will only be taken as a serious when s/he writes long form?
I wonder how writers of short stories feel when even the great Caine Prize remains only a stepping stone to the next great novel/ist...