Faďza Gučne, novelist
Does art make a difference?
Art makes the difference.
Should politics and art mix?
One can find art everywhere, even in politics, so they naturally mix.
Does money corrupt an artist?
It depends on the integrity of the artist, but especially on his ability to calculate large sums of money. Seriously, I think an artist can be corrupted, but I really believe that it is the art which is incorruptible.
Is your work for the many or for the few?
At first it’s for myself; you cannot imagine how selfish I am when I write. That could seem pretentious but I am my first reader, and a very critical one.
Which artist do you most admire?
God, who did a perfect job.
Which artist do you least admire?
Two clowns who directed a circus in Washington for a few years, a father and his son: not so funny.
Which product, if any, would you advertise?
Certainly an advertisement for a detergent, with the overworked mother who must urgently wash the sweatshirt of her 12-year-old son for a very important football match on Sunday morning.
If you weren’t an artist, what would you be?
Perhaps I would be an ordinary woman, working in an office, hating her boss and dreaming of beautiful beaches in front of her computer screen – and I would be happy.
If you were world leader, what would be your first law?
I think I would be a real tyrant, so I would oblige people to make peace and love each other, by force if necessary; and I would also oblige people to wash the hair at least three times per week, for a cleaner world.
Who would be your top advisers?
My mum and Woody Allen.
What would you censor?
I would censor the censor.
What would you legalise?
Polygamy.
Who would you banish?
The creator of hypocaloric diets and high-heeled shoes. I’m quite sure it is the same person.
What are the rules that you live by?
Just one: try to be the best person that I can, inshallah.
What would you like your legacy to be?
The beautiful values my parents have, and their dignity.
Do you love your country?
I love my country, and I hope one day my country will love me as much as I love it.
Are we all doomed?
Yes, we are, it is written in the contract: we’re all gonna die. Let’s wish to us an end as beautiful as possible. Sorry for my approximate English! l
Faďza Gučne’s novels recount the lives of young people on housing estates in the suburbs of Paris. Her latest, “Dreams from the Endz”, is published in paperback by Vintage (Ł7.99)
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