Leigh Bardugo wants “to f**k you up a little.”
The best-selling fantasy author — known for her “Shadow and Bone” trilogy of novels, which became a Netflix hit — wants to remind people to “tolerate discomfort” in art.
Bardugo told a Hamptons crowd, including “White Lotus” star Alexandra Daddario and “You” actress Kathryn Gallagher, at a goth-themed party hosted by Social Life Magazine’s Devorah Rose that readers of her first adult book “Ninth House” “got real mad and they decided to basically set fire to me on Twitter.”
“They were outraged,” she said. “[They said] ‘there should be trigger warnings’; ‘this book is dangerous’ and ‘this book made me distressed and it could hurt people.’ And they said, ‘she wrote it for shock value.’”
Bardugo said at first she thought, “I’m like, ‘no, no, I didn’t.’ I worked so hard on this. I poured my heart into this. I did my research. I was thoughtful about this, and then I thought, ‘No. You’re right. I do want to shock you. I do want to make you a little uncomfortable. In fact, I want to f*ck you up a little.’”
The book follows a trauma survivor at Yale who delves into the mystery of the Ivy’s secret societies.
The “Grishaverse” creator said that in the social media era, it’s important to recognize the difference between discomfort that raises an “alarm” about danger, and creative discomfort.
“We live at a time where we can control all of our inputs, when we never have to be challenged or even provoked,” she said. “And that’s fine, but it does interfere with our ability to be creative. And the more we become uncomfortable with discomfort, the harder it becomes to make art and to seek out interesting part.”
Bardugo spoke about movie montages and social media, saying they erase the first drafts and hard work when “every recipe, home improvement project, piece of art that took days, weeks, months, maybe even years to create, and never mind all of the years” and “turns this into a montage that you’re going to consume in mere seconds.”
“It is not the job of artists to skip to the good part in the montage,” she said. “The job of the artist is to make art when no one gives a damn, when no one likes or follows, and [the artists] are not comforted by compliments and praise.”
The “Six of Crows” author also encouraged aspiring artists persevere.
“The next time you pick up that project you’ve been noodling on. . . I hope you embrace that discomfort,” she said. “I hope you turn toward it and you recognize that that is not an unwanted visitor, it is a welcome guest. And it means you’re that much closer to doing something interesting and maybe even something extraordinary.”
Bardugo is releasing her first children’s book in August, “The Invisible Parade,” with pictures by award-winning illustrator John Picacio. It takes place on Día de Muertos and delves into loss and grief.
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