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Sunday, October 29, 2017

Exophonic Writers

Exophonic writers are those who write in a language not generally regarded as their first or mother tongue.  The 2017 Man Booker Prize was won by an exophonic writer:  Kazuo Ishiguro. 

The exophonic writer most people know is Jozef Teodor Konrad Nalecz Korzeniowski who became Joseph Conrad of The Heart of Darkness fame.  Fewer know that Jack Kerouac, born to French-Canadian parents, spoke only French until the age of six, when he started school.  I, like Kerouac, learned English only when I started school, but, unlike Conrad and Kerouac, I am not a master of English prose.

BookWitty recently had an article which mentioned both of these celebrated writers as well as some others:   https://www.bookwitty.com/text/exophonic-authors-or-writing-in-a-language-not/59e4880f50cef71947f61293. 

If you are interested in other exopohonic writers, consult the list at Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_exophonic_writers.  You may be surprised at how many you have read. 

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