Another side of me.
We all get labelled. So being portrayed as a "climate advocate" - or a "Costa Rican" - is not my whole story. I love novels. Fiction is my other passion - reading it and writing short stories. In fact, I plan to write a novel one day. So here are some links to inspiring talks and podcasts by writers. Storytelling is essential to human nature so why not celebrate writers and the gift they give us with each story?
I adore these TED talks by novelists.
I have watched these talks several times. Each time I loved them even more. These women share something in common: they challenge conventional wisdom and resist the labels that society wants for them. Elif Shafak talks about the implicit politics of fiction (if you are a Turkish woman, the world expects you to only write about Turkish women. Period). Chimamanda Ngozi raises a similar question about "the dangers of the single story" (who says that a woman from Nigeria cannot write about American life or life in general?). And I love Elizabeth Gilbert's call for us to be far more generous about the creative process and the birth of genius.
Where do stories come from?
Almudena Grandes is a fantastic Spanish writer. Her books are thick, enchanting and unforgettable. So many writers in Spanish come to mind and I could not possibly add all of them here. I like Almudena's writing process so here is a candid talk that I loved. This video is about the role of memory in writing fiction.
.
Amazing podcasts about writers and their stories.
Then of course an amazing website is the BBC World Book Club. In my perfect world, I would listen to one podcast each day. This website is a treasure for anyone who loves to hear about writers and how they write a story - and why.