Isolation is not an unfamiliar state of being for artists and writers, who need a fair amount of seclusion to tap into their creativity. What might have changed though is the kind of inspiration they derive out of their social and physical environment. Art and literature are after all human reactions to certain events and occurrences, both natural and man made.

The confusion, uncertainty, and anxiety we are all feeling have made us wonder how the pandemic has affected art and literature, how the creative sector has adjusted, and what has been the creative response to the pandemic? Has this crisis also spurred innovation? With a focus on that, we have come up with a few questions for The Antonym session ‘ Life, Art and Literature in the Time of Pandemic.’

1. How has it affected the form? Has it broken down genres? Has it encouraged a hybrid approach?
2. What are the new trends? Has the pandemic created a slew of poems, fiction, blogs, and new forms of art?
3. Do the new trends have lasting value?  Or we will see real literary takes only after many years?
4. Has it brought artists together globally?

The Antonym host Ranjita Chattopadhyaya got together with artist and curator Carl Heyward from San Fransisco, educator and translator Radina Dimitrova from Mexico City, poet and writer Yashodhara Ray Chaudhuri from Kolkata and Ahmed Masoud, novelist and playwright from London for an hour long discussion on how one year of pandemic impacted the Art and Literary world and what we did to cope and learn from it.