Lauren Hayhurst
"[The writer] must offend people if he's going to be effective [...] must have a capacity for indignation. The capacity for indignation is the most important thing for a creative person. And especially indignation at the treatment afforded other people… To see a blind and deaf baby and to feel anger, to feel fury, at the starving of children and the arrest of political dissidents. That is the basis of the writer."
Dick, Philip K. (2002) 'An Interview With America’s Most Brilliant Science-Fiction Writer' The Aquarian, No. 11.
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A desire to effect change fuels my writing. Not tangible change like transforming the economy or inventing a medical marvel, but something more subtle and no less colossal: how we consider and interact with others. Lots of people read novels, often seeking out stories from distant lands or tales of unfamiliar foes, feeding our need to escape from the routine mundaneness of everyday life. In this way, novels can be seen to possess a great power over our perceptions of peoples with whom we may never meet. And with great power, comes great...
Responsibility as a novelist is sometimes overlooked in favour of freedom-of-speech, but when characters are intended to represent actual groups or individuals, especially those in vulnerable situations, the ethical practises of the writer must surely be considered. With this in mind, my research and writing is guided by an anthropological approach, combining the ethical awareness of the latter discipline with literary study and creative development.
