Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk gave a moving speech on receiving the coveted honour. At the Nobel Banquet speech, The Snow author contemplated on oft-asked questions like why does he write. “Why do you write?” this is the question I have been asking in most of my writing career,” he says. “Most of the time they mean this: What is the point? Why do you give your time to this strange and impossible activity? Why do you write?” he adds.
“You have to give an excuse and apology for writing. This is how I have felt every time I have heard this question.” However, he adds, “Every time I give a different answer.” Sometimes, he admits, he says he has no idea why he writes but it does make him feel good. “I hope the same when you read me.” Sometimes he “blames” it on his anger as the reason for writing. “I write to pursue that old childish happiness. That is why for me literature and writing are inextricably linked with happiness or the lack of it.”
The Turkish author finally comes up with an answer at the end. “Literature is about happiness…preserving the child all your life.”