This interview with Rajesh Talwar was first published in February 2007.

 

Where were you born and raised?

 

I was born in New Delhi. My father was in the army so every few years we moved city. This was good and bad. Bad for building relationships with school friends but good for seeing more places.

 

What was it that first got you into writing and when did you start writing?

 

I did moderately well in everything in school.  In practically all the subjects I always ranked right in the middle, say 26 if the class had 56 children, but in essay scored the highest consistently. That shocked the teacher and me too.

 

Which writers have influenced you the most?

 

Fyodor Dostoevsysky, Guy de Maupassant, Oscar Wilde, Rabindranath Tagore.

 

Where do you stand on the nature v. nurture debate? Were you born a writer, or were there factors in your environment that enabled you to become a writer?

 

Nature includes your physical and social environment and that’s what nurtures writing talent, I’d say. In other words its nature and nurture, probably more of the latter.

 

There are a lot of courses teaching creative writing nowadays, but do you think that good writing can be taught?

 

Good writing can certainly be improved, but cannot be taught.

 

Have you entered writing competitions? If so, have you won any prizes?

 

Never entered. Never won. But may do in the future.

 

Do you have any short stories or poems published online? (If so, please provide the URLs):

 

No. Review links below for a novel and children’s storybook:

http://www.hindu.com/lr/2007/02/04/stories/2007020400220500.htm

http://www.hindu.com/yw/2004/07/31/stories/2004073100200400.htm

 

What kind of things do you write?

 

I began with legal literacy books and law reform (since I am a lawyer) and then moved to plays and then to novels and children’s books.

 

What, for you, is the best piece of prose that you have ever written?

 

I guess it would be “Inglistan”, my most recently published novel.

 

What are you working on now?

 

A children’s book. “The Adventures of Princess Bebe”

 

What is your writing day like?

 

Work on weekends since I work during the day. On working days I try to put in some work in the evenings and early mornings.

 

Where would you like to be in 10 years time?

 

Writing, teaching, travelling. Same as now.

 

What’s the most exciting thing about writing for you?

 

You create clarity and meaning.

 

What’s the most frustrating thing about writing for you?

 

Its so very difficult to earn a living from it.

 

What’s the best piece of feedback that you’ve had from your audience?

 

Someone missed a bus stop reading one of my plays and later told me about it.

 

Do you write for a particular audience, or is your first priority to satisfy your own creativity?

 

I’d like to say I write for myself and for everybody. I’m shocked at children’s writers who write for age groups say 8 to 10, or 10 to 12. That’s like labelling a product.

 

Do you have a homepage? If so, what’s the URL?

 

www.rajeshtalwar.com

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