one of the challenges for any writer

One of the challenges for any writer is to find that balance between solitude and intimacy, independence and community.

An artist – and by this I mean anyone who takes art-making seriously, whatever kind of art that may be – is by definition a rebel. The whole point of art is to shake things up, challenge the status quo, get people to look at things anew and maybe, just maybe, alter their belief system.

An artist is a witness: to make art is to make meaning of things, and in order for that...