There are many poets who do not succeed during their lifetime but are famous after their death. Special effort should be made to spread awareness of them to serve as an inspiration to writers/poets
I came across an article which stated that the great Shakespere became famous 100 years after his death. I don't know how far true it is . I had read earlier that Victor Hugo and Emily Dickenson also became famous after death like the famous painter Vincent Van gough.
One wonders how much of a paying profession is writing in general. The success pyramid of Writers and poets is extremely steep. Normally only fiction writers earn big money and that too is rare. Recently it came in the news that the author of the Harry potter series is the first writer billionaire.
To support themselves, writers and poets have to do mundane, monotomous jobs which do not go down well with them. A writer in India described the wrong job as Lifetime imprisonment. Another writer at authorsden described the wrong occupation as spiritual suicide.
When one considers the dictum, " Choose a job and you will never have to work a day in your life", the plight of writers and poets is indeed pitiable. With the internet and sites like Authorsden, one wonders how much the situation has improved compared to the past.
In India too I know of a famous writer called Munshi Premchand who hardly made any money in his lifetime but was famous after death. They must have really lived miserable lives considering the opportunities of those times.
I hope whoever reads this article will add to the list of posthumously famous poets/writers. It will be an inspiration to those who need to be motivated to put up with a miserable existence.
That apart, maybe Authorsden could take some initiative to honor those revered souls.
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Reviewed by Seth Mullins (Reader)
Reviewed on September 24, 2005
I relate to the setiments you've expressed here maybe more than I care to admit, Hiren. I've been enduring the "spiritual suicide" for about sixteen years...and counting. I want to refer this essay to a few people who I've had a hard time explaining this struggle to, because you've captured it succinctly.
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