Navigating the “mixed economy”, embracing a “spiritual practice of patience” and avoiding the infamous “slush pile”, Talking Books saw fiction writer and literary academic Naomi Booth sit down with poet and presenter Kayo Chingonyi to discuss their respective crafts and the publishing industry more generally.
I noted overlaps of hope, but equally a transparent and ceaseless labour!
Chingonyi was asked about the title of his first collection, Kumukanda, and it was affirming to hear that, though published in 2017, he had held onto his original title from 2013. He described it as “what gave shape to the book…somewhere to write towards”, a direct contrast to Booth’s confession that, in fiction, titles come very late or are entirely reworked by the publisher.
Fiction, in its appeal to the masses, reaches further afield, I got the impression, touching more people, but perhaps not burrowing into the personal space of the reader quite so much as a work like Kumukanda would.
The conversation about editorial relationships led Booth to express gratitude for recent editors by recalling someone who seemed less clued in! She recounted setting her books in particular parts of Northern England, only to have someone describe her work by conflating distinct localities.
“I wrote something about West Yorkshire, and someone had described it as the North York Moors. What may seem like a tiny point” – half laughing at the growing annoyance in her own voice – “really bothered me because these are geographically very far apart and distinct areas”.
What was clear from both authors, through the humour of a career steeped in rejection, was an authentic love for literature. Both were encouraging and offered advice during the Q&A, but were united in the warning that being published ultimately does not sanctify or save you.
More important is developing a practice that sustains you despite disappointment: the key to inward validation.