Why the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature Is Good News for Us
To your keyboards, dear friends!
Dear Reader,
I know, the cover image of this newsletter has no relation with its title. But I found it charming, and then my choice is not insignificant since here in France we are in the middle of the deer’s bellowing period, during which our friend pushes its cry of love to attract females. It is an actual melancholic song that I had the opportunity to live as a child and will forever be engraved in me. But let’s get back to the topic of the day!
If you don’t know yet, the Nobel Prize in Literature 2022 awarded by the Swedish Academy has just been attributed to Annie Ernaux, a French author of 82 years, “for the courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangements and collective restraints of personal memory”. Cock-a-doodle-doo! Annie Ernaux becomes the 16th French writer to have received the Nobel to date. Well, this is an author I’ve never read, but I’ll fix that problem relatively quickly. I discussed this with my mom yesterday and she told me that she has several books by the author, including The Years which is considered her masterpiece.
Why do I tell you about her? First of all, because it’s great news and I know that we are all lovers of literature here. Perhaps some of you have already read one of Annie Ernaux’s books. And secondly, the author’s work is mainly made up of stories from her own life, which she has elevated to the rank of great literature. Writing about her own life has allowed her to become the author she is today. So I feel like saying that maybe the next Nobel Prize in Literature is hiding among you and the Scribe writers!
I write this with a wink and a smile, hoping with all my heart that the publication continues as long as possible to host beautiful poetry and stories that tell life, yours above all, in the most authentic and touching way. That’s how I see this publication, and how I will continue to see it. And once again, I thank all the writers and readers who allow it to exist.
This week on Scribe, Louise Foerster gave us a funny story about an event that is known all over the world but that I myself had never heard of. It proves that you learn something new every day! It’s about “Fat Bear Week”, a unique contest to raise awareness about the protection of the species. But I guess you know a lot more than I do, and Louise’s story is lovely: Where the Wild Things Aren’t. Let’s protect and love brown bears!
I also liked Erika Burkhalter’s piece, The Ring, which questions the objects that carry stories and the little things that surround our lives. If in two hundred years you would like someone to come across an object that belonged to you, what would it be?
The other gems of the week, written by Lynne Nardizzi, Sofia Isabel Kavlin, Q. Imagine, and Alan Henley can be found in the usual weekly digest at the end of this newsletter.
For my part, I’ve been a bit more talkative than usual since last Saturday’s newsletter. First I tried to be funny in this story, then I wondered about the clap feature in this one (a huge thank you for all your feedback that I hope will also help Medium to move forward), and finally, I wrote this haiku.
By the way, and maybe you’ll be interested in this, I started a rather useful discussion with the CEO of Medium, Tony Stubblebine, after I reacted to the nuclear missile sent by Jessica Wildfire, well more precisely by answering a comment from one of her readers, Felicia C. Sullivan. Tony responded to my comment, and we started a discussion that is still ongoing as I write this. I think you will manage to find this exchange. For those who are interested, Tony’s response to Jessica’s post is here.
I know that some people here read what is being said about Medium and sometimes worry (as do I) about what we are going to be eaten with. I’m the first to grumble when my shoulders get too heavy. But I also try to always keep a touch of positivity despite the blizzard. It’s also my job to encourage all of us to keep writing from the heart despite what’s going on around us. So I hope you’re staying positive too.
See you in the responses, and next week in our weekly appointment that I love so much. Have a lovely weekend, and keep writing moving stories!
Weekly Digest
The Ring, by Erika Burkhalter. Plant Magic, by Lynne Nardizzi. Where the Wild Things Aren’t, by Louise Foerster. Open Letter to Human Who Stole and Returned My U.P.S. Package, by Sofia Isabel Kavlin. Nostalgia, by Q. Imagine. The Blank Page, by Alan Henley.
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