Starting out as the sole devotee, as well as deity, in a sect of one, the writer eventually is convened to take part, as an elder, in the Church of Writers - to congregate periodically to discuss the crisis of culture, the future of literature, the relation of the writer and the state. Lately I've become more and more delinquent, or dutiful - whichever way you want to look at it. In recent years I've gone to more than a few such meetings of writers, grumbling about precious time subtracted from writing and delighted at the company. I have a certain feeling of deja vecu at these roundtables. They're grueling, even if you do only half of what you're asked to do.
Nobody hates a free trip.
When I think about them I can see their point too. Literature and Culture, History and Literature, the Writer and the State, the Future of Literature, the Future of European Culture, the Writer and National Identity - the diction and the possible permutations are pretty obvious. The custom is to devise a title, drawing on a small packet of such seasoned abstractions, that says as little as possible. To be sure, some words have become a little too worn. The moral conditions of the writers' congress are timeless too.