Ikigai Daily
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If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.

Toni Morrison, Ohio Arts Council speech

LiteratureArt

Why it matters

The idea in context

By 1981 Morrison had already tested the advice on herself. She wrote her first novel, 'The Bluest Eye', in the early mornings before her editing job at Random House, raising two sons alone. She wanted a book about a Black girl taught to hate her own face, and no such book was on the shelf. The line is not really about ambition. It is about absence: notice what is missing, then accept that the gap is your work.

Türkçe

Aynı kart, başka bir dilde.

Okumak istediğin bir kitap varsa ve o kitap henüz yazılmamışsa, onu yazmak sana düşer.
Toni Morrison, Ohio Sanat Konseyi konuşması

Morrison 1981'de bunu söylediğinde sözünü kendi üzerinde çoktan sınamıştı. İlk romanı 'En Mavi Göz'ü, Random House'daki editörlük işine gitmeden önceki erken saatlerde, iki oğlunu tek başına büyütürken yazdı. Kendi yüzünden nefret etmeyi öğrenmiş siyah bir kız çocuğunun kitabını istiyordu; rafta öyle bir kitap yoktu. Bu cümle aslında hırsla ilgili değil. Eksiklikle ilgili: Neyin olmadığını fark et, sonra o boşluğun senin işin olduğunu kabul et.

Source trail

Read beyond the card.

Background reading: The Bluest EyeAttribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.
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