Why Writers Return Awards

So, this is the second question to ask - why care what a writer says or does?

We care because writers give to a people their voice, their memory, and multiple layers of truth. Even if we do not see our exact selves mirrored in a book or a poem, we still find a part of our collective self. Writers show us a secret tunnel into the lives and minds of people we do not agree with. They incite passion and compassion, debates and dreams, and all the warnings we need. They consider fresh possibilities. They help us confront our fears, failures, shame, pleasure, and the ways in which we have been damaged. They are a nation's conversation with itself.


From a piece published here.

http://www.dailyo.in/arts/sahitya-kala-akademi-nayantara-sahgal-ashok-vajpeyi-sarah-joseph-dadri-lynching-mm-kalburgi-murder-george-orwell-mahasweta-devi/story/1/6715.html