Sunday, April 4, 2021

Marguerite Duras, and the Issue of Left-Handed Writing

If I was going to put together a manuscript for a book, I would call it “Me & Other Writings.” But it seems that there is a Marguerite Duras compilation of her non-fiction writings in 2019 with that title and published by Dorothy. Which is a great press that focuses on women authors and poets. With a modernist bent, of course. The best literary presses are the ones that have a specific focus and direction. I have a press (that is now asleep) TamTam Books that mostly dwells on the Post-War French literature and music world. If I go back to publishing full-time, I may want to focus on only left-handed writers. I suspect that there is a mega-difference between Left and Right-handed people, especially in the arts. Speaking for myself, I’m left-handed, and I feel separated from the rest of the world.

I tried to find out if Duras was left-handed or not. As I researched, I did find out that Franz Kafka, Mark Twain, H. G. Welles, James Baldwin, Eudora Welty, and my beloved Lewis Carrol were all left-handed writers. Is there a creative connection between these artists due that they are all left-handed? And since I can’t find any information about Marguerite Duras’s left or right-handedness, it is still interesting to make these connections?

This, of course, does not take away the enjoyment I have of reading “Me & Other Writing.” Duras writes honestly about her feelings as a filmmaker and writer. Still, I also enjoyed the piece she wrote about her mother. Duras was raised in Vietnam but in a French household is an interesting clash of cultures. Not a physically loving family; it’s interesting how Duras craved the sensuality of life, but look at it as if life was in a laboratory. That’s how I want to treat my writing with the heart of a poet but with the mind of a scientist. I like hard facts but am told poetically.

So, at the end of the day, is it scientists who are right-handed, and poets are left-handed? And since I’m a poet, is the reason why I desire Left-wing politics?