Pearls from artists* #498
*an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on.
“The first time I ever went to a meeting where they discussed any of my books academically,” she chuckled, “a Canadian Scholar was going to discuss The Left Hand of Darkness. He didn’t know that I was going to be there. When I walked in, he was appalled. He looked at me with a savage look on his face and said, ‘Just don’t tell me you didn’t know what you were doing.’ That’s a basic thing, actually, between scholars and artists. I think, ‘Oh, is that what I was doing? Or Is that why I did that? and it’s very revealing. But the fact is, you cannot know that while you’re doing it. The dancer can’t think, Now I’m going to take a step to the left. That ain’t the way you dance.”
Ursula K. Le Guin: The Last Interview and other Conversations, edited and with an introduction by David Streitfeld
Comments are welcome!
Posted on March 16, 2022, in 2022, An Artist's Life, Inspiration, Pearls from Artists, Quotes, Writing and tagged "The Left Hand of Darkness", "Ursula K Le Guin: The Last Interview and Other Conversations", academically, actually, artists, chuckled, dancer, David Streitfeld, discuss, edited, interview, introduction, looked, Maria Cox, meeting, revealing, savage, scholar, scholars, walked, working. Bookmark the permalink. Comments Off on Pearls from artists* #498.