by Olyn Ozbick
I love good literature.
I read it, write it, discuss it, and teach it. It is something I know about and care about. I spend a lot of my time with literature.
I love fine art too.
I have a much different relationship with art, however. I enjoy it every bit as much as literature, but…… with no strings attached. I don’t actually make it, I don’t teach it, I just enjoy it. It’s the perfect complement to my creative life.
My art appreciation and my writing life are in perfect balance.
Which got me thinking, wouldn’t it be fun to pair books with art. So that’s what you will be getting here on my blog.
My guide to pairing fine art with your reads will be updated regularly.
A Burning
From emerging writer Megha Majumdar, A Burning is contemporary, touching and eye opening. A stunning geopolitical first novel. This compelling story follows a young woman and victim of social media into a devastating downward spiral that takes you with her from her youthful origins in a slum, into India’s corrupt prison system and through to a shocking ending. All the while, her friends and mentors spiral to great heights on her updraft. An inditement of modern social bonds, corrupt police, and the greed and cynicism caused by systemic poverty and fear. Majumdar’s deft writing handles this harsh story with languidity, and her complex characters and settings are drawn with color and precision. More please, Megha Majumdar!
Pairs Perfectly with …
Lady in Red
Mumbai artist Rouble Nagi is recognized internationally for her bold paintings, mural-sized canvases and public sculptures. Some of her most important recognition, however, comes for the bold work she is undertaking to transform Mumbai’s slums into brilliant uplifting works of art. The local residents she recruits from within the slums to help paint the dwellings, such as aspiring young fashion photographer Ravi Parab, are vibrant talented individuals, who seem to spring straight from the pages of A Burning.
