The most important self-published work was Ulysses

Dear Editor,

 

In his list of self-published authors, Mr Barrington Braithwaite failed to mention the most important one of all: James Joyce, author of Ulysses (‘Our best literature remains in manuscript form…’ SN, July 9). Joyce self-published his seminal work, considered the best novel ever written, because publishers at the time did not understand his innovative stream of consciousness technique.

If Mr Braithwaite believes he and the local writers he mentioned are of the calibre of Joyce, Whitman and Poe and will eventually gain such recognition for their self-published works, I take my hat off to them all for having such faith and confidence in their respective talents.

Joyce, et al, were looking for publishers anyway because they knew the many advantages of being published rather than self-published, and some authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, V S Naipaul, R K Narayan, and Rabindranath Tagore have stories that tell of the difficult years, of rejections, or of the wonderful happenstance or interventions that eventually got them published.

Graham Greene intervened and got Narayan published, and W B Yeats used his influence on behalf of fellow poet Tagore.

Mr Braithwaite is quite correct in his observation that the greatest books have never been entered into competitions. As I stated before with regard to young writers being exhorted to rush and get their books ready for the Guyana Prize: most writers do not write to competition deadlines, to please judges, or to compete in order to win a prize.

Mr Braithwaite’s young friend seeking answers should know that agents and publishers are available to writers everywhere via the internet and at little or no cost to him or her. This is as democratic as the world can get.

 

Yours faithfully,

Ryhaan Shah