by Charlie Fabre
What would you give to chat to your favorite literary legends and pick away at their brains over a nice, homemade (or takeaway) dinner? Personally, I would give everything! I have so many questions to ask my favorite authors, ranging from the nitty gritty like ‘how do you craft the perfect sentence’ to silly ice breakers like ‘which ice cream flavor do you detest the most?’. But which authors I would invite is another question entirely…
Ideally, every single one! But, my dining table just isn’t that big, so I’ve narrowed my choices down to 7. Dead or alive, these are the literary legends I would have over for a dinner party.
1. Joan Didion
Queen of journalistic nonfiction and heart-breaking accounts of the self, Joan Didion is one of my top favorite authors and a dinner party guest much. Honestly, I’d just love to listen to her talk and talk and talk about her life and her opinions, her views of politics and the world, but also chat about her favorite magazines and where the best places are in California to go. I think, of all my dinner party guests, she would dazzle, but she wouldn’t relish in the spotlight either and I think she’d be a great conversationalist.
2. Oscar Wilde
Who doesn’t love an Oscar Wilde play? They’re hilarious, and that’s why I’d invite him to my dinner party, because I just know he would deliver on the good humor and the jokes, and I think he’d be a great person to get others out of their shell – you know, seeing as authors are usually such introverts.
I’d also just love to hear more about his life, about how he navigated the world as a queer man when it wasn’t exactly socially acceptable to be one, and about any scandals he’s heard of. I think he’d be a great gossip, but I feel I would also be able to learn so much from Oscar Wilde, and I think Joan Didion would enjoy him as well – so they’ll be sat next to each other.
3. Han Kang
I have loved Han Kang since I was 15 and read The Vegetarian, still one my of top 10 books, so having her as a dinner party guest is not only a must, but it would also be an honor. The stories she writes are strange and have an ethereal quality to them, but they hold very deep emotion and I just want to know everything about her writing process, and how she allows her own life and experiences to inform her novels.
The White Book is perhaps my favorite book of hers, which is part nonfiction, part fiction, and that is probably the one I would want to discuss with her most. I would also 100% ask her for advice on how to write such flowy creative nonfiction, and how to know where to draw the line. I think I would learn so much from Han Kang, so fingers crossed she’d accept my invitation.
4. Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath’s poetry is some of my favorite poetry of all time. She was a force of nature, a literary powerhouse, and I am so saddened that she did not write more in her limited time. But that being said, if Sylvia Plath were to attend this fictional dinner party of mine, I would just want to talk about her, and her own inner life. I’m sure at the time she got many questions about her writing, and I have many of my own, but perhaps it would be a nice occasion for her to get away from that and be with some new friends. I think she’d be an amazing guest as an observer and listener.
5. Elena Ferrante
Anonymous as she is, perhaps Elena Ferrante could attend my dinner party online with some kind of voice filter on, that way she can preserve the secrecy. I’m not about to be the one that outs this literary legend, but I would die for the chance to chat with her! Ferrante’s work is some of my absolute favorite – I completely devour everything she writes and I go feral when a new release is announced. Some author’s just have that effect on me, what can I say?
My questions for Elena Ferrante are endless, but what I’d like to ask her most is how she has mastered her prose. After having read In the Margins, it’s clear that she took lots of time to master the skill, and I would love to discuss that process with her and learn. Plus, I think she’d have some great anecdotes and I believe she’d get along with the rest of the table.
6. R. F. Kuang
I read my first book by R. F. Kuang last year and I instantly recognised her as one of the best most talented authors of the 21st century. Naturally, she is a must on my guest list! I would love to discuss everything about Yellowface and pick apart the interior debate with her, lay out the pros and cons and play out both sides. I would like to discuss Babel and find out how she came up with such a heavy plot in a fantasy world, and how much research it took her to write this masterpiece.
Being of a similar age, R. F. Kuang is probably one of my true literary idols and an author I can only dream to be like, so just getting the chance to chat with her and gather any information I can would be a blessing. Plus, she seems like such a chilled down to earth gal, and I think we would get along.
7. Max Porter
Max Porter is one of my favorite male authors because he writes such short novels that hold so much weight and power to them, and also a lot of weirdness. I’d love to pick his brain on how he comes up with his plots and how he finds ways to convey the emotions he wants within these bizarre backdrops, and I’d especially love to hear about the conceptualisation of Lanny!
Max also often hosts the London Book Review podcast which I listen to from time to time, and he’s a smart guy and seems easy to converse with, so overall he’d be a great dinner party guest choice because he could get everyone else chatting too.
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