Todd Katz writes: “Presented to the Association of Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies, University of Malta, April, 1978. This and other presentations were subsequently collected in Individual and Community in Commonwealth Literature, Daniel Massa, Old University Press, Malta, 1979.” The piece is hosted here. Desani writes about the creative process in his Hatterr and Hali and about his personal life as an artist while quoting other literary works. He shares touching confidences about his life and times and how and why these personal experiences influence and form his literature. He gives a sweeping view of human cultures and how they affect one another.
Mr. Katz, as usual, typed up the .pdf version from a printed copy of the piece. I proof read this and submitted back to him. He tells me this is the last piece in his possession, that they are all now available at Desani.org. This body of work would have more or less constituted the book(s) Desani wanted but was unable to publish, he tells me.
I’ve ventured to make some personal observations about this essay here.