Back in the 1990s, there was an interview by the late Amare Mamo, editor, critic and author in his own right. The interview was published by a literary magazine and the discussion focused on the social and economic status of Ethiopian writers and artistic personalities in general. Amare Mamo who was considered the best editor of his time, was quoted as saying that “Ethiopian writers and artists are the poorest in the world,” adding that, “most of them are so broke that they have no money to get their manuscripts typed or buy themselves a decent lunch after long hours of sweating.”
By the way, Amare Mamo was to Ethiopian literature what Maxwell Perkins was to American letters. Maxwin Perkins was an American book editor, best remembered for discovering authors Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe to name but a few of them. By the same token Amare Mamo discovered first time published authors like Bealu Girma, Berhanu Zerihun, Abera Lema and many others. I met Amare when I was publishing my debut short story collection entitled, “Ye Arada Lijoch” (The Boys of Arada). He read my manuscript, encouraged me to write more and chose to publish it. He was the first literary editor I met in my career.
Although Amare said that Ethiopian writers were mostly paupers, all of them were not however poor. Bealu Girma, Tesfaye Gessesse, Mamo Wudeneh, and others were members of an elite group from the middle class intelligentsia of the time. They were not professional writers. They had decent jobs, decent incomes and a stable middle class life. Most of them were government employees earning regular salaries. Of course, there were also rebel ones, chief among them being Abe Gubegna who chose to lead a rather the life of a professional writer devoting his time to writing while he had no stable income and lived in poverty. He was the victim of government harassments and even banishment for his political views that were radical for this time.
In his time, there were two kinds of writers and artists, the ones wealthy enough to lead decent lives the other too pauperized that they were the victims of drinking in excess which was the scourge of artists everywhere in the world at that time. By the way, drinking in excess was wrongly believed that it was the catalyst of creativity. And this drinking culture was mainly imported from the West. Hemingway, Faulkner and Scott Fitzgerald, considered the stars of the 1920s and 1930s, were famous not only for their writing acumen but also their drinking excesses.
William Faulkner, the author of the classic “Absalom! Absalom!” among others, was more than a drinker but an alcoholic addict who did not function with his daily dosage of alcohol. Hemingway was of course the quintessential American drinker whose ink was flowing on the paper at the same pace as his drinks. When he travelled to Stockholm to collect his Nobel Prize for literature, he was found utterly drunk in his hotel room where he had slumbered for long hours before regaining consciousness.
Fitzgerald was also a young and talented writer who indulgenced in the notorious habit of drinking too much alcohol and died relatively very young. His famous novel, “The Great Gatsby” and others are replete with scenes and characters who were fond of the evening cocktail parties. It was Maxwell Perkins who discovered Fitzgerald before, “Fitzgerald’s profligacy and alcoholism strained his relationship with the famous editor.
These writers were considered literary heroes in this country in the 1960s, 1970s and after. Local writers tried to copy not only their literary styles but also their lifestyles. When the American writers were indulging in Martinis and Whiskey, our good old writers frequented ale houses, and backstreet booze joins where they discussed literature and the arts or the latest works of foreign writers and even gave clues about their own works that were still under gestation. There were also boasting and loquacious writers among them. Sebhat G/Egziabher was one of them.
Hemingway was famous for his observation on writing and drinking. He was once quoted as saying that he wrote while he was drunk and edit when he was sober. “Write drunk, edit sober” was his infamous recommendation. “Researchers have identified that there are times when alcohol helps creativity as well as get in the way. Alcohol helps to inhibit that part of the brain that constantly “checks” to see how we are doing when we are creative. The upside to this can often be breaking through writer’s block.”
Sebhat was no doubt a good writer although he frequented the liquor houses around Teret Sefer ((‘neighborhood of tales’) )right on Churchill Road, or down near Ambassador Theatre, in one of the shacks called “groceries” where he clicked glasses with the celebrities of his time. There was many famous writing people who came to those places simply to see Sebhat or listen to his drunken discourses that became more vehement when he reached his “epiphany moments” or his violent outbursts and possible abuses. Sebhat was of course more famous for his eccentricities than his literary work.
As an aside, according to one information why authors drink alcohol, “There are any number other possible reasons for the close relationship between writing and drinking., however, including the need to bring out exhibitionism, increase sociability, encourage fantasy, bolster self-confidence, ease loneliness, or most simply relax after a long day of hard concentration.”
Flipping back to Sebehat,once when dawn fell in the area, he held his coat in one hand and started to walk up Churchill Square and into Teret Sefer where women of pleasure and drinkers brushed shoulders and gulped their misery into tons of liquor that was as not only widely available but also as cheap as pipe water. Sebhat later on married one of the ladies in the area and had a daughter. The day after drinking sprees, the famous gentlemen were sitting for what they called “bercha” which was a ritual of eating the narcotic plant in order to deal with their hangovers. Then the cycle continued later in the afternoons.
At this point, we should consider the following questions: Does drinking really help creativity? Why are writers, journalists and many of them engaged in intellectual activities often prone to drinking too much and hurting their health? In short is alcohol a catalyst of imagination? Alcohol is considered by the medical science as a relaxant, when taken in moderation. The problem is that we do not know when moderation ends and abuse kicks in. Many users may start drinking alcohol for its relaxing properties.
Writers may start drinking alcohol as a relaxant and then grow to become addicts and end up as abusers. This was also the case with some of our writers and journalists of yesteryear. Of course writing is a very stressful job and writers usually take a few drinks after work, usually in the evenings to relax and develop addiction without knowing it. However, drinking alcohol while working does not help the quality of the writing. “After receiving the highest level of alcohol, individuals were found to have an increased reaction time, more errors and an overall decrease of successful trials.”
Unfortunately, addiction leads to dependence and then to pauperism and the lives of many scribes are cut short by alcohol abuse. Drinking for some of them was also an escape from ordinary life they found irritating or boring. They were usually loners who usually go to backstreet drinking outlets to satisfy their cravings or fuel their inspiration. They did not have many friends and they preferred solitude rather than crowd pleasing that gave them more time for reflection or self-examination.
Whatever the reason or cause behind too much alcohol drinking, the risks are far more serious than the benefits if any. This is particularly true to writers who drink and write or write and drink. If writers are considered to belong to the lower echelon on the social and economic ladder, drinking cannot obviously come as a remedy.
Poverty plus writing may not click and the stress of writing under miserable conditions is likely to lead to too much stress, depression and anxiety. In more affluent societies, writing do not only have the means of buying a number of glasses of liquor every day or every night, alcohol is also considered a fuel for creativity to a certain extent. According to one opinion, “having a blood alcohol level of 0.07% may actually help with tasks such as problem solving and creative projects.”
Young writers in particular should be advised against indulging in alcoholism whatever their callings may be. The myth of alcohol helping creativity has proved to be more a myth than a reality. Young writers should not therefore fall prey to this myth. Staring to drink earlier in their careers may create serious health, economic and social troubles. If you start as a passionate young writer indulging in drinks every day, you may soon find yourself a victim of anxiety and depression when the going gets tough or when you fail to get your first novel or short story published. Recovery from mental illness has its own serious costs as the lives of many of our writers testify.
The bottom line is why not writers develop the healthier habit of having always a bottle of water nearby and sipping now and then in the process of creativity? That would certainly help both your writing as well as your health.
BY MULUGETA GUDETA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 16 MAY 2024
