What Alexievich talked about at news conference in Stockholm
Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich, the 2015 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, on December 6 held a news conference at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm.
Journalists from Sweden asked about the reaction inside Belarus to her winning the Nobel prize. Alexievich noted the reaction of people was 'excellent, good' but the reaction of the authorities was 'aggressive.' She said that while media around the world wrote about her, the state-controlled Belarusian TV channels and news publications ran only short news pieces. The television and radio in her homeland 'keep silence' about her, Alexievich stressed. She reminded the reporters that the Belarusian television was not planning to broadcast the award ceremony.
Nobel Prize award streaming is free of charge but Belarus TV will not screen Alexievich in Stockholm
Svetlana Alexievich does not agree that she is 'pouring filth' on the people of Belarus, Aliaksandr Lukashenka or Vladimir Putin. She stressed that she writes about she sees. And she sees 'autocracy and the dark ages' both in Belarus and Russia. The task of a writer is to explain this phenomenon, noted the Nobel Prize winner.
When A journalist from Poland asked whether she was a feminist, Alexievich said she 'has a very good attitude towards feminism." A journalist from Biaroza (Brest region in Belarus) asked Svetlana Alexievich what happiness was about. The write said she is a happy person because she has long since done what and how she wants. Alexievich recalled a story from her youth. When she was assigned to work in Biaroza after graduation, she got to know a young man at a dancing event. The man soon turned out to be a KGB collaborator. The landlord lady of the apartment where Alexievich used to live warned her that he would "put her to prison."
A Radio Liberty correspondent asked what Svetlana Alexievich could do for Belarus in her new status. "One needs to do his/her job and do it calmly and without dispair. The new status does not help when you live in the conditions of dictatorship. Dictatorship is a primitive creation, usually led by unintelligent people," said the writer.
There were many questions about the writer's earlier books and plans for the future. Alexieivich noted she had many 'Communist illusions' when she was young. That was reflected in her early books. Her latest books were written by 'someone who is free from such illusions,' said Alexievich. She reckons she has written all she could about the 'Red man' and that her books can help people understand what is happening in the post-Soviet world and why people 'have again chosen slavery' after becoming free.
The writer admitted she had taken her path in literature under the influence of Belarusian writer Ales Adamovich. She was particularly impressed by his book "I'm From Fire Village."
Responding to a question from a Japanese journalist, Svetlana Alexievich said that the theme of love (the theme of her next book) is very uneasy and often very tragic. In her new book, women and men will share their stories of love. The writer also revealed that she also plans to write books about the old age and death.
Alexievich was also asked if she had a feeling the threat of the third world war. She admitted it 'has been out in the air.' Some of her friends re-read the texts about the events ahead of the tragic 1917 year in Russia, the 1930s in Germany. According to the writer, some darkness is crawling into our life.
Svetlana Alexievich will be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on December 10 in Stockholm.
Photo: Reuters
