Footballing clichis 'poignant, beautiful': Booker winner Kazuo Ishiguro

London, May 31 (ANI): Soccer clichis such as "at the end of the day" are "beautiful and poignant", says Booker prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro.

The 55-year-old Japanese author supported the post-match language of players and managers when asked about his own writing style at the Hay literary festival.

Ishiguro was answering a question about his new collection of short stories, Nocturnes - Five Stories of Music and Nightfall.

John Mullan, Professor of English at University College London, said only footballers would use phrases like "to tell the truth" and "to be fair".

But Ishiguro defended his use of the phrases.

"I find a lot of what footballers say is poignant and beautiful. Perhaps I am alone in this," the Telegraph quoted him, as saying.

He added: "I find phrases like 'to be fair' and 'at the end of the day' very deep. 'At the end of the day,' is full of stoic ruefulness. It's very close to reflecting the human condition.

"I feel that for writers, an obsession with what is elegant or what is a clichi or not a clichi can become very inhibiting.

"When you write fiction but have to be prepared to adopt the language of everyone that you want to mimic. Prohibitions have behind them a kind of snobbery or fear of being seen as lower middle class." (ANI)