Elvira Bary

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At 15, I decided I would become a writer, and nothing has changed since. Essentially, I see myself as a guide to the past and parallel universes. My mission in life is to take my readers by the hand and captivate them: "Come with me! I'll show you something amazing!" Then, I unleash the full power of literary magic, transporting them to another dimension.

If the reader returns to our world—shocked, smiling from ear to ear from the experience—then I’ve done my job well.

The art of literature is indeed a special kind of magic whose purpose is to create connections between people.
Our basic mindset, inherited from distant ancestors, implies that we are interested only in ourselves and those close to us. Everyone else is seen as “not quite human.” This was the case for millions of years of our species’ evolution.

But for us to build a civilization, we need to interact with a huge number of strangers. We cannot build a pyramid or an irrigation system for rice fields with just one family’s efforts. Let alone skyscrapers and computers.

But how can you stop perceiving your neighbors as dangerous strangers? How can you see a foreigner as a person just like you?

You need to hear their stories. This will allow you to step into their shoes, feel what they feel, and share their beliefs, joys, and sorrows. And then, they become one of your own, understandable and perhaps even familiar.

Civilization stands on stories. If we believe in the same religious narrative, we are already fellow believers. How is a Christian different from a Muslim? Only in the story they know and believe about the creation of the world and God.

Politics is also a narrative. Belonging to a party or sharing its beliefs means knowing and believing in its stories about the world around us.

The history of states is a narrative. The mission of a company is a narrative. Self-confidence is a narrative. Plans for the future—both personal and national—are also narratives.

All of this exists purely in the world of ideas, but nonetheless, it matters greatly to all of us.
And literature is what helps us understand these narratives and develop our own system of values and connections.