How To Fail With Elizabeth Day ON WRITING... With Salman Rushdie and Kazuo Ishiguro
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Sep 21, 2025 
Kazuo Ishiguro, a Nobel Prize-winning novelist famed for 'The Remains of the Day', shares insights on creativity and the importance of memory in storytelling. He candidly discusses his feelings of imposter syndrome and unique writing techniques. Meanwhile, Salman Rushdie, renowned for 'Midnight's Children', opens up about his recent assault and how it shaped his memoir 'Knife', reflecting on trauma and mortality. Together, their conversations illuminate the profound power of stories in navigating life's complexities.
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Imposter At Creative Writing School
- Kazuo Ishiguro described feeling like an imposter before joining UEA's creative writing course and not having written much fiction.
- He was pleasantly surprised by the course and soon was seen as the star, despite his doubts.
Questioning Literature's Cultural Value
- Ishiguro questions the cultural value of novels when compared to scientific achievements and worries about emotional truth overshadowing factual truth.
- He wonders if prioritizing emotion in literature may drift away from objective truth.
Use A 'Crash' To Finish Drafts Fast
- Ishiguro explained the 'crash' method where he and his wife cleared daily life to write an intensive rough draft in weeks.
- He emphasized the psychological immersion that made the fictional world feel more real than reality.
