What Writers Will Tell You These Days

A friend of mine recently tried to invite Barbara Ehrenreich to speak at the college where he teaches and she demanded $25,000. This same friend reports that another writer demanded fresh cut flowers in his room. Yet another said he wouldn’t answer questions or meet with students. All asked for fat five figure honorariums.

I asked a novelist to come to Syracuse to help us brainstorm about developing a creative writing program for young people with disabilities. “Call my agent,” she said. We were standing about 14 inches from each other.

Something has happened in literary land–a predatory and mercenary cash cow entitlement scene has evolved and with it the erosion of genuine noblesse oblige.

I am not better than other people, but I’m not a highway robber. Not yet. Not yet.

Author: stevekuusisto

Poet, Essayist, Blogger, Journalist, Memoirist, Disability Rights Advocate, Public Speaker, Professor, Syracuse University View all posts by stevekuusisto