Visiting British Novelist on Role of Conflict in Creative Writing

Both conflict and reconciliation are the driving forces of any art form that aspires to grow through time. This argument was made by British novelist Maggie Gee on February 27 in a lecture she gave to an audience of creative writing students, who had clustered in West Hall's main conference room. The lecture, entitled "Writing and Reconciliation," was organized by the AUB Creative Writing Program in coordination with the British Council.

In writing her latest novel, The White Family, published in 2002, Gee said she drew on her experiences growing up in a home full of parental and patriarchal conflict. Her family, once working class, moved fast into the middle class through education, yet never really adjusted to the change; "We lacked the decorum of the middle class," remarked Gee.

The novelist pointed out that she didn't set out to write about reconciliation, but realized that in the end when she had written about conflicting feelings, like fear, anger, and even hatred, what she was unconsciously working toward was always "something hopeful, something where at least there was more understanding, somewhere where ice melted and stasis unlocked into movement."

"One thing writers must never do is lie," Gee continued, explaining that antagonistic feelings like bigotry, racism, fairness, and tolerance often coexist inside the writer's mind and thus should at least be acknowledged. "We must at a deep level be true to our hearts and to the conflicting, and not always pretty, feelings we find there, because if we're not truthful, why should anyone read us?" she asked. Gee added that her role as a writer is to convey "the truth hidden inside [herself]" in such a way that "it signals to the truth hidden inside the reader."

Gee defined hatred or fear of the other as "a mode of defense" and said that most people are resistant to change and "tend to cling to narratives they are already familiar with," especially when experiencing fear or hatred. Writing allows her not to be threatened or annoyed, but to be more imaginative, more charitable, and consequently more conciliatory. "Literature," she concluded, "is a space where we can re-imagine our lives and be, even for a few hours, less defended."

A popular writer in her home country, In addition to The White Family, Gee has published eight acclaimed novels, including The Burning Book, Grace, Lost Children, Where Are the Snows, Light Years, Dying in Other Words, and The Ice People. She holds a doctorate and is a fellow and council member of the Royal Society of Literature. Gee lives in London with her teenage daughter, who she says has had a great impact on her writing.