Lit Visions

Fiction, its future and other possibilities in literature | Podcast and newsletter by @dhrupadkarwa

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

Message from the universe to re-start News2Novel - my newsletter that suggests novels to read based on weekly news events

Expect an issue this weekend: https://t.co/prae5cq3pE

📰➡️📙

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

"I can think. I can wait. I can fast."

These were Siddhartha's iconic words when asked what he can do.

Here's how @akhiling thinks about such a response - in the context of job interviews 👇

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

In the AI era, the words beneath the words will matter more than ever

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

My podcast with @akhiling is live!

We spend an hour discussing Hermann Hesse's timeless work, Siddhartha.

It's a book I first read as a teenager and have come back to every few years since.

The story has always offered me new perspective, meaning and even refuge during turbulent times.

What I love about this conversation is that it takes place in parallel dimensions. In the first, we're talking about the book. And in the second, we're applying the lens of Siddhartha to everyday life and work situations.

I've always felt that fiction and reality share a powerful bridge and episodes like this one only reinforce my belief ✨

https://t.co/2EWcmxXA73

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

Fiction is a truth whisperer

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

"Dhru, you will lead a life of adventure, no matter what happens."

This was the promise I made to myself in childhood. And given the past 13 months, it rings as true as ever.

The poetry startup I founded in 2013 joined forces with a mental health platform in India. I spent some time settling our team, before heading back to England to support my mother, who's had a rocky few years of health.

South Yorkshire was a place I thought I had bid a permanent goodbye so the sudden homecoming was surreal. But as with most unexpected tributaries, it led to a broader stream of understanding.

After a few quiet months, I started thinking about what was next. An internal tug-of-war resulted, between my mind and heart - the former pulling me in familiar, and potentially lucrative directions. Directions that were exciting to my peers but for whatever reason weren't resonating with me.

I chose to resist the bulk of those impulses. I sensed my path was changing and I had to surrender past identities, even if it meant letting opportunities pass me by - much to the alienation of people around me.

Where I landed was to focus on finishing my first novel, which has been a much neglected aspiration. One of the personal ironies of HaikuJAM was that it helped 2 million people write together, but in the frenzy of building, I wasn't able to devote enough attention to my own words. It's time I course-corrected.

So I'm writing. Lots. From a small Ashram in Haridwar, where I'm living with Shaista and our Guruji. We're in India for some visa work and have never been more at home, belonging to whichever moment we find ourselves in.

My days are a dance of stories, sadhana, jungle walks, meeting saints, swimming in the Ganga, and riding my beloved @royalenfield motorcycle.

And for this next chapter, I'll be using Twitter as a public journal. So join me in the adventure 🪷

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

The great AI novel will be written by a human

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

Fiction is a disarming context for hard conversations about reality

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

Fiction is a springboard for conversations about reality

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

My podcast with @GDR_Shantaram is one I can never forget...

Now available on Lit Visions:

https://t.co/412iFXeOCP

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

Novels are concentration technologies

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

News2Novel topics this week:

🎾
🎲
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Drops tomorrow

https://t.co/prae5cqBfc

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

🗞️ News2Novel is here

Get 3 novel suggestions based on recent news:

- Rick Rubin's interview
- Latest space race
- Disney's 100th birthday

https://t.co/aQp8oJH6Ow

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

Building 🔮

https://t.co/prae5cqBfc

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

You may not read fiction but you are living inside a story

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

News2Novel is a newsletter where I recommend novels to read based on weekly news.

Here's why I'm doing it:

[Eliot Peper @eliotpeper]

Over on the Lit Visions podcast, I talked to @dhrupadkarwa about the power of speculative fiction, telling stories set in the near future, building an audience for your creative work, and how I wrote Reap3r.

https://t.co/WAVLVdIKxb

[Nasos Papadopoulos @naspap3]

Language is the OG technology.
Nothing else comes close.

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

If religious texts were read as fiction, we would:

- Enjoy them more
- Have a deeper understanding
- Invoke less conflict

[Dhru @dhrupadkarwa]

🗞️ News2Novel is here

Get 3 novel suggestions based on recent news:

- Birth of triple-cooked chips
- Indian fishermen lost at sea
- #COVID19 in China

🧵