"Novelist Milan Kundera wants to defend and define novelists. He charts a course for them to navigate between the Scylla of history and the Charybdis of an uncomprehending public. Novelists live in the world, of course, and use their experiences to create art, but they must vigilantly preserve their liberty and not become corrupted by politics, though of course they may write about them. At the same time, writers’ biographies should not be allowed to intrude on reception of their work."

Read it at Open Letters