Saturday, May 23, 2009

Dave Eggers Says Don't Give Up Hope

In the Book Bench section in the online version of The New Yorker Magazine, Dave Eggers has a message to writers, publishers and readers...don't give up hope.

To any of you who are feeling down, and saying, “Oh, no one’s reading anymore”: Walk into 826 (Valencia) on any afternoon. There are no screens there, it’s all paper, it’s all students working shoulder to shoulder invested in their work, writing down something, thinking their work might get published. They put it all on the page, and they think, “Well, if this person who works next to me cares so much about what I’m writing, and they’re going to publish it in their next anthology or newspaper or whatever, then I’m going to invest so much more in it.” And then meanwhile, they’re reading more than I did at their age. …

Nothing has changed! The written word—the love of it and the power of the written word—it hasn’t changed. It’s a matter of fostering it, fertilizing it, not giving up on it, and having faith.

9 comments:

Gifted Typist said...

I agree that it is powerful, many people listen or watch the written word, but it's still writing

Cormac Brown said...

Gifted,

Absolutely, 95% of my writing is done on some kind of keyboard. As both a slow scribbler and a parent, I don't have the luxury of doing everything with a quill and onion skin parchment.

Pyzahn said...

God bless Dave Eggers.

Rosaria Williams said...

Dave Eggers is sharing his passion at a time when he could just enjoy the sunshine of his success. We could all take a hint.

Cormac Brown said...

Pyzahn and Rosaria,

I think he said this more for the benefit of the young writers of the program, and to the other writers and philanthropists that back the program.

It is incredibly noble of him, the people at McSweeny's and the Bay Area writers at large, to give the time, money and love in an effort to create a new generation of writers. Writers that ordinarily, wouldn't find their voices or have a means to express themselves.

Shelley said...

How timely, how lovely and how very appreciated - thank you for sharing this inspiration!

Cormac Brown said...

Baroness,

You're welcome and I'm glad that the quote serves you well.

BeckEye said...

I love Dave Eggers. His staggering genius is heartbreaking. And he has awesome hair.

Cormac Brown said...

Becky,

He does have awesome hair, but I keep forgetting to pick up "Staggering" everytime I go to the book store. This time I am going to make a concentrated effort.