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I have no problem with calling myself a political writer. I do, however, have a bone to pick with the question: "Do you consider yourself a political writer?" It suggests, perhaps more insidiously in the United States (especially the south, where I am from) than in Britain, a certain narrowing of vision, a less than "human" exploration of life forces within the writing itself. Perhaps the problem is the very term "political": most often it is used to mean theatre with a left-wing axe to grind. So, among other things, the question carries with it a hackleraising, almost indiscernible whiff of red-baiting: "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the …?"

DOI: 10.1057/9781137017925_28

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