Conversations |
For filmmaker Mira Nair, the most “healing thing is the ocean”, while for author Ben Macintyre, it’s travel. Last month, they undoubtedly felt right at home in Soneva Fushi at the Jaipur Literature Festival pitstop in the Maldives. But coming as it did on the heels of a two-year pandemic, conversations about books were, predictably, interspersed with moments of nostalgia and plans for the future. What did they miss the most during lockdown? What works best as a mental reset? Dinner parties said some. Cricket, said others. But many at the luxury island resort said they came out of isolation with great projects in hand. A few, like Macintyre’s, are even timely. “It is ironic that the film Operation Mincemeat [based on my 2010 book] is coming at a time when we are engaged in another European war, and that this story now has obvious modern relevance,” he says.
At a time when summer getaways are being planned — or monsoon breaks, depending on which part of the world you are in — six celebrated authors and creatives share what they are looking forward to in 2022, the themes that interest them now, and how they plan to refresh and refocus.
