一位患有拖延症的作者正在通过申请国外文学驻地项目来消磨完成小说的时间[1]。为了提高申请成功率，这位作者阅读了来自目标国家的文学作品[1]。
阅读清单包括捷克作家博胡米尔·赫拉巴尔的《所有的猫》（1986年著）、斯洛文尼亚作家迪诺·鲍克的《终结与再始》以及韩国异议诗人金芝河的作品[1]。其中，金芝河1970年出版的长篇叙事诗《五盗贼》因讽刺权贵资本主义而遭禁，金芝河本人也因此被判死刑，直到西蒙·德·波伏瓦和大江健三郎等著名作家的成功辩护才得以脱罪[1]。
作者认为这种看似浪费时间的拖延活动实际上帮助自己拓展了阅读视野[1]。
A writer has turned the process of applying for international literary residencies into a mechanism for delaying work on their novel.[1] To bolster their applications, the author has strategically read translated literary works from target countries, transforming what might appear as mere time-wasting into an opportunity to broaden their literary perspectives.[1]
The reading list reflects an eclectic international scope. The author engaged with Bohumil Hrabal's All the Cats, published in 1986,[1] as well as Dino Baukč's Ending and Beginning, which explores the experiences of four young people during the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia.[1] The author also read Five Bandits by dissident Korean poet Kim Chi-ha, a long narrative poem published in 1970 that satirizes capitalist power.[1] For this work, Kim Chi-ha was banned and sentenced to death in 1974.[1] The poet's sentence was overturned following successful advocacy by prominent international writers including Simone de Beauvoir and Kenzaburo Oe.[1]
Reflecting on this approach, the author appears to embrace the apparent paradox of productive procrastination. The reading undertaken ostensibly to strengthen residency applications has nonetheless delivered genuine intellectual returns, expanding the author's engagement with world literature across diverse geographies and political contexts.