The Frontiers Of Fiction (Samvatsat Lectures - Thirteen)

THE SAMVATSAR LECTURE XIII delivered by M.T. Vasudevan Nair is a "brief account", as Vasudevan puts it, "of the adventures of a fiction writer in his private world of reading and writing". Vasudevan Nair does not claim to make any theoretical analysis of fiction to prove any pet theory, as he fears it might lead him into the "unknown territory" of literary criticism. Instead, he offers his own creative insights into the art of fiction born of his own practical and intimate understanding of the art.

M.T. Vasudevan Nair (1933) One of the eminent fiction writers in Malayalam, M.T. Vasudevan Nair endearingly called M.T., has published more than 18 volumes of short story collections, eight novels and a play. He has also a corpus of creative essays to his credit. As the editor of Mathrubhumi weekly, he was responsible for bringing up a whole new generation of writers in Malayalam. M.T. has received several awards including the prestigious Sahitya Akademi and Jnanpith Awards.

This is a brief of account of the adventures of a fiction writer in his private worlds of reading and writing. I do not make any critical analysis to prove some pet theory as I do not have one. Discussing the art of fiction is in a way rewarding, as I have found in the past, that in the process I learn a little more than what I have learnt till then.

I have used bits and pieces of this material before in some literary workshops conducted in kerala. I am thankful to the Akademi for compelling me to put it all together within a loose knit frame work. While doing so I found to my pleasant surprise that I was trying to build a pattern for my own perception and finding a justification for the continuous effort to make out of words a form for the materials I had picked up occasionally.