V.S. Naipaul interviewed by Tarun Tejpal

Here is a Youtube of an interview by Tarun Tejpal of V.S. Naipaul:

http://youtu.be/TPjxZX8qMAM

This conversation took place at the Tehelka-Newsweek's THiNK 2011 on a panel titled "What Writing Can Do That Nothing Else Can".

It is really interesting.

It is worth the long chat for the last bit where Naipaul, aged only 30 and the judge of a competition, reflects upon a Poetry Prize that he attributed to another author, where he awarded only Third Prize (no First Prize and no Second Prize), with the proviso "I will grant you Third Prize as long as you give up writing poems"...

Thanks theyyamdancer for the article. Here is a link Naipaul's family. www.thelionhouse.com/

Slightly off topic but have you read Shiva Naipaul's (VS's brother) North of South? I think it is one of the best pieces of travel writing I have ever read.

Calcuttan, I will have to get a copy book to read. Thanks.

@ sego, you are welcome! Thanks for the link.

@ Calcuttan, I have that book gathering dust on my bookshelf! Time to re-read it.

Sego - thanks for that link. I never knew Shiva Naipaul had died at the age of 40. But the book's name is wrongly written there as North and South. It should be North of South (here South actually means South Africa). It's about the horn of Africa and that region in general. I read it long, long ago.

Calcuttan,
I looked for the mentioned book by Shiva Naipaul and cannnot find it. The book I have by Shiva Naipaul is called "Beyond The Dragon's Mouth", written in 1984. It is his account of leaving Trinidad for England, plus other short stories and non-fiction.

I read Shiva Naipaul's novel Fireflies a long long time ago, I'm tempted to read it again now

TD (and others interested) - here is a link to Penguin's little section on the book

http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/Boo...188264,00.html

I think it's well worth a read. Extremely well written.