One of the most distinguished guests of honour to have attended the Cairo Book Fair, Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer was at the centre of a surprisingly uneventful seminar last week: Lina Mahmoud reports "Of course there really is a roof -- the tent is the roof, far, high up. It is like a sky. It is like a mountain and we are inside it; through the cracks paths of dust lead down, so thick you think you could climb them." The voice of the Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer reading out of her most recent short story, "The Ultimate Safari", made for a truly refreshing experience. One of 21 contributions to Telling Tales, a collective work featuring some of the most respected names in world literature, the story was even more appealing in the writer's South African voice than on paper. As serene as it is strong, the voice was in stark contrast to the writer's frail, petite appearance. "About half a year ago I was feeling ashamed because writers are not making money for AIDS victims," she told a coterie of intellectuals at the book fair last week. "I looked at the efforts of the Sugababes and Busted and the rest... and asked why can't we writers do something..." Gordimer had, as a result of these thoughts, taken the initiative to contact 20 writers from around the world and ask them to donate a story to the endeavour. In her introduction to the volume Gordimer points out that, in each instance, the writer chose a work representative of their lifetime's achievement: "They weren't about AIDS... I wanted them to be beautiful stories celebrating life, which is what people suffering from HIV and AIDS are deprived of -- the fullness of life." The story she read on this occasion -- a powerful account of living in a refugee camp, told from the viewpoint of an orphaned child -- is no exception; it was therefore an appropriately representative example of her writing. To be translated into numerous languages including Arabic, the book was launched by Kofi Anan at the United Nations headquarters a few months ago; and its proceeds will go to the Treatment Action Campaign, a charity helping AIDS victims in Africa and elsewhere in the world. It was in this context that the London-based Syrian journalist Mohieddin Al-Ladhiqani asked Gordimer if she felt jealous of the average pop star, whose daily earnings may well exceed the proceeds of the 5,000 copies of Telling Tales sold thus far, to which the Nobel laureate replied in the negative. " They should feel jealous," she declared. "And you can only do what you have the talent to do. In comparison to pop concerts, the 5,000 copies may sound a few. However, I consider them very good in comparison to book distribution." Coordinated by Mohamed Salmawy, author and editor-in- chief of Al-Ahram Hebdo, who described Gordimer as a political writer and an ardent opponent of Apartheid for nearly half a century, the seminar was neither open to the public nor, properly speaking, a high-profile event. Few literary figures attended, with scholars Fatma Mousa and Ferial Ghazoul, critic Ibrahim Fathi and novelist Bahaa Taher heading the Egyptian bill; and the foyer of the spacious lavishly furnished, air-conditioned hall in which it was held was full of students in jeans bearing rucksacks but no invitations -- a disruptive presence. The contributions of those literary figures who did attend, what is more, were rather more humdrum than one would expect. Mousa, for her part, asked about the ways in which Gordimer combines the role of writer with that of political activist. "I don't have an agenda," the Nobel laureate supplied. "I don't let [my work as an activist] influence my writing. I have been writing since nine years old," she went on. "I learned that writing is about exploring the human mystery of life." Ghazoul asked about the relation between the social and the political -- whether Gordimer's writing embodies a political comment. No one is unaffected by politics, Gordimer responded: "We are shaped by our families, laws, religions and politics. If one is brought up in a conflict area, this shapes one's thinking. That's why my fictional writing is influenced by politics. However, I have never written to teach or persuade but to touch on things." Ghazoul also asked about The Pickup, Gordimer's most recent novel: why its protagonist, an illegal immigrant, had to be Arab. "In my country now, I have come to know some Arabs living illegally, hiding from the authorities," Gordimer said simply. "They travel because they are searching for better lives. In South Africa, a lot of Muslim Indians and Pakistanis live. Yes, they are not Arabs. But Islam is Islam. Also I had many conversations with my late friend Edward Said to find out if I was going wrong." More interestingly, Taher made the effort to recount his first meeting with Gordimer at a literary conference a few years ago in Budapest. "At the time Hungary was still a communist country. And while the Party insisted that we condemn what was happening in China, Arab writers were eager to issue a statement against the Israeli occupation of Palestine -- a pressing issue. No non-Arab participant agreed to sign except Nadine Gordimer." Fathi was more provocative by far. What makes a writer international, he asked. How did the Nobel prize affect your work? "Getting the Nobel prize did not affect my writing at all," Gordimer insisted, calmly. "It is not a question of local or international. You write about what you know. If you are a good enough writer, it doesn't matter if you are writing in a small village in the middle of nowhere, people will still identify with what you're writing." Other questions were downright naïve. What is writing and is it fun? "It is not fun, it is compulsory. You have to read and write. You can't help it. It is highly enjoyable though." Why haven't you written in support of the Palestinians, having opposed Apartheid? "Unfortunately I haven't written anything on Palestine but I have a stance against the occupation. It is clear in all my interviews. I am a Jew and I'm a member of the organisation 'Not in Our Name', which is an activist organisation against Israeli practices in Palestine and headed by the former prime minister of South Africa." Appropriately, the seminar ended with Gordimer's answer to a rather more sensible question about her daily routine: "I work four hours a day during which my door is closed and I don't answer the phone. Also I am a great reader thanks to my mother. I taught myself to read French so I read widely in English and French. I wish I knew Russian, I would've loved to read Tolstoy and Chekhov. My only advice to writers is read, read, read." Born in 1923 in Springs, South Africa, Nadine Gordimer won the Nobel prize for literature for "her magnificent epic writing" in 1991. She has written over 20 books, 10 of which are novels; the best known include A Guest of Honour , The Conservationist , Burger's Daughter and July's People . A political activist, some of her writings have been banned in South Africa. Although a self-professed "natural writer" -- she was first published at the age of 15 -- Gordimer acknowledges the influence of Proust, Chekhov and Dostoevsky.
