Novelist Barry Unsworth discusses the impulses, instincts, and concerns that drive his fascination with history.
In this recording from the 2009 Key West Literary Seminar, Barry Unsworth lectures on the nature of truth in works of fiction. On the one hand, argues Unsworth, the novelist must strive for accuracy in relating the historical facts of a period. On the other hand, "the writer of fiction should be seeking a larger truth, a purer truth." In pursuit of this aesthetic aim, the author strives to appeal to the reader's experience and intuition, and so may take liberties with "the categories of factual falsehood or truth." In making his case for an "economy of truth," Unsworth cites authors Mark Twain and Umberto Eco, as well as British spy-turned-author Peter Wright.
Barry Unsworth is the author of 16 published novels, including the Booker Prize-winning Sacred Hunger, and his newest, Land of Marvels, which The Washington Post has called "immensely intelligent and entertaining." In this recording from the first session of...
If you use an RSS reader, you can subscribe to a feed of all future entries tagged 'Barry Unsworth'. [What is this?]