On the occasion of the international conference Challenges of European Book and Reading Policy, organised by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and  the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the President of the European Writers’ Council (EWC), Miguel Ángel Serrano, was invited to participate in the panel “Past, Present and Future. The European Policies for Book and Reading: Challenges to Future Growth of Book Sector in Member States”. Further panellists were José Manuel Anta, General Director of FANDE, Federación de Asociaciones Nacionales de Distribuidores de Ediciones de España, and Anne Bergman-Tahon, General Director of the European Federation of Publishers (FEP). PAMPLONA, 16th of October.

EWC President Serrano delivered the following opening speech:

There is a Japanese word, Nagori, that means “nostalgia for the season that ends”. This poor season of autumn, with scarce fruits and vegetables (if you don’t bring them from other hemisphere) and an exuberant summer that seems to be still here…

Sometimes, when I think about the future of the book sector in Europe in, let’s say, 10 or 15 years, I see a dystopic scenario in which human artistry has been reduced to a luxury product, feasible to be enjoyed by few people. Even fewer artists can live off their talent. Writers are a species in danger, as we have allowed that learning to write, to argue, to think freely and to criticize power and abuse are no longer necessary activities to live in a democracy.

Publishing houses have almost disappeared as well. And libraries and bookshops. And critics. Even the reading community is diminishing. We are coming back to an oral world and to an audiovisual constant carousel, in which reading takes too much effort. And that implies that some works won’t be easily accessible. It’s difficult to imagine an audiobook of The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant. But there are people that recorded it in English: trust me, it’s such an experience, not exactly pleasant. There is even an audiobook of Ulysses by James Joyce. And some reviews of “listeners” say that “it’s not appropriate to be listened in my car”. You don’t tell. Really? So reading is facing some major challenges.

I feel Nagori today. The human artistry period seems to be ending. What we at the EWC call writoids, those machines trying to imitate and ultimately substitute human writers, are now arising. We need to stop these unruled, if not criminal, activities, and abuses.

Just as we pay now for TV platforms or the internet, we will pay a big company for our right to read. The tariff will be so low that no one will be able to live off it but the owners of the platform. In my dystopic dream, critics are substituted by algorithms that get people into closed mental spaces, with no possibilities to discover other opinions, languages, points of view. The Japanese word for the joy of having the first fruits of the season is Hashiri: Those still bitter grapes or tangerines, but delicious and refreshing anyway. I can imagine some big AI companies’ moguls having the time of their lives these days. For a short period, I hope.

Slowly, diversity vanishes. Minority languages suffer, and risky literary experiments are forbidden. Self-censorship grows, and we don’t open new museums of modern art because, you know, machines don’t produce art.

I feel Nagori today. The human artistry period seems to be ending. What we at the EWC call writoids, those machines trying to imitate and ultimately substitute human writers, are now arising. We need to stop these unruled, if not criminal, activities, and abuses.

Fortunately, I said “sometimes” at the beginning of my nightmare. Other times I’m sure that this won’t happen, and in the future will still exist writers, publishers, translators, and the human, irreplaceable élan vital of us all. Japanese call that Sakari, that moment of the season in which fruits are in their best shape: magnificent summer peaches or watermelons… From now on and for many years, I hope.

I know that, because I am sure that all of us will do the right thing: legislate to benefit human development, not machine development and uncontrolled greed of technologists. We have listened about sustainability this morning. I say human sustainability is the main objective here. I want to remember you that the whole Book sector rests on the shoulders of authors, weak individuals that need protection: social protection and fair remuneration for every single use of their work.

We need to recover respect for writers as intellectuals. Then I wouldn’t feel Nagori, but a renewed confidence in literature.

So, what are the challenges for future growing of book sector in Europe? First, to define what growth means. An imbalanced development won’t be sustainable at all. It’s not only about selling books, but make people grow, push, and invite them to reach their best version by reading, it’s about making democracy advance. I think that technology puts all of us in a fork, and our decisions of today will determine our future. This future growth needs a decisive action of Member States. More budget for libraries, not exceptions. A good an enforceable law about AI. Public Administrations need to stop piracy: that’s necessary. And we have to explain citizens why reading is not the same as watching TV. The moment is now.

One of the best endings of the History of Literature is that of one of the two stories of The Wild Palms, by William Faulkner: between grief and nothing I will take grief. I don’t want to choose between a world without human artistry and the “nothing” of machine plagiarism. But probably I would take nothing, as I don’t want to read writoids’ products.

We need to recover respect for writers as intellectuals. Then I wouldn’t feel Nagori, but a renewed confidence in literature. Faulkner, in his wonderful and famous interview in The Paris Review, said that he didn’t need much to feel comfortable when writing. A little whiskey, tobacco, food, and paper. Asked if he needed bourbon, Faulkner answered that “between Scotch and nothing, I’ll take Scotch”. That I’ll do also. I will taste a little Scotch and make a toast because we all did the correct things now so that I shall have my drink peacefully in, let’s say, 10 or 15 years. Thank you.