Dragan Todorovic, author and Lecturer in Creative Writing in the School of English, was interviewed by Steve Ladner on BBC Radio Kent’s Mid Morning programme earlier this month.
In the interview, Dragan discusses self-isolation due to COVID-19, creative writing and increased discipline and time to write. Dragan draws comparisons with works written during historical times of isolation, and the importance of these documents for future generations:
‘Some of the hugely important books in the history of creative writing have been written in times of isolation of some sort, from Bocaccio’s Decameron to Apollinaire’s Calligrammes and many other books’, Dragan explains. ‘It’s not only about the stories, but it’s also a vital document of how people lived at the time. Everything written at this moment is a document of the time, and we owe it to future generations to write it and leave it for them’.
Dragan also provides advice as to where new writers can start:
‘You have to write about yourself. There is no good creative writing unless you know how to write about the self. Writing a memoir is a fantastic beginning for most people, but it’s also very rewarding’.
The full interview can be heard here:
https://soundcloud.com/dragan-todorovic-2/dragan-on-writing-in-times-of-crisis