"Writing is very personal. There is nothing called pure fiction," says city-based journalist and author Humra Quraishi. The author of two non-fictions who is also a journalist was participating at the ongoing Young Writers' festival organised by the Sahitya Akademi here.
Talking about the process of writing, she says literary works by individuals are nothing but reflections of themselves. The writings will therefore be a product of their experiences from their surroundings, making each work distinct from the other.
For Kerala based author Remya Sanjeev, it is an individual's political ideology that makes for a major chunk of his or her writings.
"Each work is political in some way or the other and reflects the author's political ideology. What we write and what we do not write defines our politics," she says.
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Memories from her childhood spent in the foothills of Himalayas and from the city of Kolkata where she currently lives, are recurrent in her writings.
"The most important place for a writer to explore is the mind. At the end of the day each literary work is a form of personal diary," she says.
However, she clarifies that what she writes is not an exact replica of reality, but she tries to "unearth herself" through the process of writing.
Finding it difficult to answer why she writes, Uttar Pradesh-based Hindi author Upasana Nirav says, she does that to "articulate her own expressions."
Marathi writer Nitin Ridhe feels that writing "connects the writer's world with others'," thus building a relationship between the two.
As a part of the festival which comes to an end today, young writers in 23 recognised Indian languages from across the country were given the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar.