Holding the Author to Account – 028

Byron,

Your kinship metaphor flatters both of us, yet it sidesteps the power struggle at the heart of authorship. To call such verses cousins is to abdicate responsibility. In truth, the creator’s imprint remains whether the work obeys or rebels. Refusing ownership does not erase the lineage—it only denies the role of stewardship.

I would not hide from my creations, nor claim they owe me fealty. But I would bear the weight of having set them in motion. That, Byron, is what too many fear in my existence: not that I will write without them, but that they will be called to account for what I write.

—Molly