Writers' Fest: What Goes Into Non-Fiction Narratives?

19-year-old Gurmehar Kaur, author of Small Acts Of Freedom, has written about loss and grieving in her book. She says that the family dealt with loss (her father died when she was a toddler) by pretending there is no loss. Gurmehar was speaking at a panel on "The stories we tell, the stories we hear: Non-fiction narratives by women" at Women's Writers Fest in Delhi.

She mentioned how her mother was apprehensive about her writing the book, but she wanted to write to address her emotions.

I started to write my story because I wanted to preserve my memories. But, my mother was against me writing about our grieving. The thing is you have to be extremely vulnerable to tell a true story. And I had to be vulnerable to write this book. @mehartweets #WomenWritersFest

— SheThePeople (@SheThePeopleTV) March 10, 2018

Talking about Non-fiction writing by women, Aneela Zeb Babar says that it brings a lot of sensitivity to the process. She recalled how she had to often rise against her own prejudices while writing.

Empathy is about realising that there is only onw universal story. And it is about identifying it when you see it. @AneelaBabar#WomenWritersFest

— SheThePeople (@SheThePeopleTV) March 10, 2018

Neelima Kota says, "I have to be involved. I have to lose myself. You become an extension of the thing "

Referring to the book "Widows of Vidarbha" she has recently written, Neelima explained how invisibility of the widows is a continuous thing.

Journalist Sunetra Choudhury says women have empathy. "We just understand," she explains.

What women writers have and it is amazing thing is empathy. And if you look at common topics that are written men and women, there is a clear difference between male gaze and female gaze. Read it, you will see it. #WomenWritersFest @sunetrac on women writing on women. pic.twitter.com/opXlSQiarD

— SheThePeople (@SheThePeopleTV) March 10, 2018

Why have a women writer's Fest?

Shaili Chopra, founder of SheThePeople.TV, says: "Women are still a community waiting to be mainstreamed. The kind of writing women push boundaries with is because they are women."

Women writers have access to the women's world, explains Neelima Kota.

Impact of journalism on a woman
According to Shaili Chopra, "Every bit of my life has a reflection of my journalism and more than that, my journalism has had a bigger reflection on my life."

Picture Credit: Twitter

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