Taken from a profile in the Times yesterday of Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk whose book Flights won the Man Booker International Prize. She grew up under communism in Poland and in East Germany:
In a recent Skype interview Ms. Tokarczuk said that when she
began writing Flights, more than a dozen years ago, she set out to describe a
world very different from the one we are living in now. “I wrote this book when
the world was looking to be open for everybody,” she said. “Now we’re seeing
how the European Union will probably become weakened by the policies of
countries like Poland and Hungary, which are focused on their borders once
again.”
Speaking from her home in Wroclaw in southwestern Poland, Ms. Tokarczuk
also referenced President Trump’s plan to build a wall on the United States
border with Mexico. “Twelve years ago there was no mention of the idea of walls
or borders, which were originally adopted by totalitarian systems,” she said. “Back
then I must admit that I was sure that we had put totalitarianism behind us.”
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