Mimesis is a word I’ll never forget, as it was written in capital letters on a whiteboard in blue, as the subject of my first ever writing class at university. I sat in the auditorium waiting for the lecturer to appear, wondering what on earth I was doing there, as I was a ‘mature’ student and didn’t have a clue what the word meant. I think after all these years I have got a handle on its meaning. It is when life is mimicked through Art and Literature. Yesterday I reversed this process, when my life happened to imitate literature – through inadvertently copying a character’s behaviour from the novel I am currently writing. The problem might be different: solo travel for my character, and swimming alone, for me, but the underpinning for both women is anxiety, and the desire to change.
Setting the scene: The staffroom of an English teaching school in Japan. It is morning. A young Scots teacher is fiddling with papers. It is a matter of minutes before our classes start when an Australian male colleague enters. “You are looking very kempt this morning,” I say, pointing to the tie. This is so far from his usual ruffled appearance, I am shocked – almost to the core.
