Yesterday I went to a writing masterclass with Chris Abani at the Brisbane Writer’s Festival. I was drawn to it via this TED video, which was screened last week at the MAP Magazine Cafe Series at the Brisbane Powerhouse. In teaching a conceptual approach to how to create art, Chris Abani reframed the debate about the common practice of modeling our work on that of others. He said that writers need to collect things “like magpies”, and gave us permission to steal. “There is no such thing as influence, there is only the recognition that somebody sees the world the same way you do.” In other words, as in this TED video, we find in others a mirror of our own humanity.
more about “Chris Abani muses on humanity | Video…“, posted with vodpod
Tags: Brisbane Writer's Festival, Chris Abani, TED, writing
January 5, 2009 at 6:27 pm |
TED has changed their video player, and although it says I should click through to embed the new player in my blog there is no information about it that is readily accessible. I suggest that any readers simply search TED if they want to view this. Pity.