So what was the last story you read or watched that made you feel something or that resonated with you?
For me, it was watching the acclaimed animation Frozen last night. While I’m not fond of musicals (Sweeny Todd is an exception), Frozen, through it’s portrayal of Elsa, who needed to stop repressing her ice powers to prevent her from hurting others, revealed the importance of needing to let myself out of the emotional prison I trap myself in and just be myself. In a society that encourages people to repress our emotions, this is an important message for people of all ages. While the film is targeted at children, it illustrates my point: stories have something important to teach us about ourselves.
This role of art in our society is an important one. Expand this theory to more mature, literary fiction, and it demonstrates that supporting literature in our community supports the community’s wellbeing. Not only does supporting local artists help local artists, but it promotes local stories that will resonate more deeply with small community such as Western Australia, that it stemmed from.
So, the state government’s recent announcement of making the WA Premiere’s Book Awards a bi-annual event instead of an annual one is a disservice, not only to the writers who it promotes, but also to the community’s readers and indeed the community itself. A community that is unwell and not self-aware is not a productive one. Take note, WA state government; withdrawing funds from one area to support another only creates more problems. So please, restore the literary award to a annual event.
For more information on the debate about the government’s recent decision and some great reads, please check out the wonderful blogs of WA Authors Meg Caddy, Amanda Curtin, and Emily Paull.
And, I’m genuinely interested to hear your comments about the most recent story that moved you, resonated with you, or taught you something important about yourself or life in the comments section.