1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?
Well the obvious answer is that after 24 years of writing manuscripts and trying to get a book deal, my first book THE SYRIAN LADIES BENEVOLENT SOCIETY was my entryway into achieving my dreams. I had sold short stories and essays to almost every single newspaper and magazine in Canada, and several notable outlets in the US, like the New York Times, New York Daily News, VICE, the Observer, and more. So it was baffling when I just couldn’t break into the book world. Now, having one book under my belt, and LETTERS TO KAFKA being my second, I feel like I have not only achieved my lifelong dream, but I also feel more comfortable in this world. I’ve started referring to my occupation now as “an author” rather than “a freelance writer.” That feels good.
2 - How did you come to fiction first, as opposed to, say, poetry or non-fiction?
I have never been a poet, so that was never on my radar. To be honest, it’s always been fiction. I remember in grade 4, all the students had to write a short story for English class. Most kids turned in 3 or 4 pages. I turned in 40. I even attended the Young Authors Conference held at McGill university circa 1991 or 1992. I couldn’t have been more than 10 or 11 years old. This was always what I wanted to do. Writing non-fiction pieces was simply a way to pay the bills until I got my all-hallowed book deal.
3 - How long does it take to start any particular writing project? Does your writing initially come quickly, or is it a slow process? Do first drafts appear looking close to their final shape, or does your work come out of copious notes?
Honestly it depends on the project. I have to say, after I finished 4 years of research for LETTERS TO KAFKA, the manuscript flowed out of me so quickly because I had been living with Milena for so many years by that point. But THE SYRIAN LADIES BENEVOLENT SOCIETY was a bit different in that some stories flowed out of me quickly and were barely edited, while others needed some shaping from first draft to final. There’s no rhyme or reason to this thing, I’ve found.4 - Where does a work of prose usually begin for you? Are you an author of short pieces that end up combining into a larger project, or are you working on a "book" from the very beginning?
Hmmm, I guess I don’t look at it from that point of view. I write the story and the story dictates whether it is appropriate as a short story or a larger piece of work.
5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?
I definitely enjoy them. I know most of us authors can be an introverted bunch and find them a slog, but I am an extroverted-introvert. I look forward to public events because my work is so solitary and I essentially have no coworkers. So I look forward to being amongst others. However, after a public event, I usually need to retreat to my bathtub and soak for a few hours in solitude. That’s the introvert in me needing to recharge after being so “on” all the time.6 - Do you have any theoretical concerns behind your writing? What kinds of questions are you trying to answer with your work? What do you even think the current questions are?
My body of work has always been concerned with the voices and narratives of women. If you look at my published short stories, my non-fiction essays and op-eds, THE SYRIAN LADIES BENEVOLENT SOCIETY, and now LETTERS TO KAFKA, you’ll see that ethos permeating everything within the narrative. I’m interested in women’s agency, women’s volition, women’s sexuality, and how we can be robbed of those things.7 – What do you see the current role of the writer being in larger culture? Do they even have one? What do you think the role of the writer should be?
James Baldwin once said that artists are here to disturb the peace. I live by that. My art is here to push people’s buttons, ask questions, provoke thought, and take the reader on an emotional journey. I am here to share stories that make readers question their biases, beliefs, and staunch viewpoints on how the world works. I am here to make readers look beyond their tiny little keyhole.8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?
It’s funny because I always joke, “When I’m editing authors, I find them to be such crybabies. Then when I’m being edited, I’m like HOW VERY DARE YOU!” Working with outside editors is definitely essential and I have had some fantastic editors over the years, whether they be at literary magazines, newspapers, or my books. I’ve only had small issues with editors where they can be disrespectful either to me or to the work with their notes and comments. That rarely happens, but I am infamous for never being a shrinking violet or wallflower, and I tend to give back as well as I take it.
9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?
No one really told me this advice, but I figured it out on my own after years in this industry: you cannot let rejection hold you back. You have to let it propel you forward.10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (short stories to academic essays to op-eds/editorials to the novel)? What do you see as the appeal?
Hmmm, I’ve never thought of it in those terms. It’s all creative to me. Any creative work, I am drawn to. So whether it’s an op-ed or a short story or an essay or a novel, it’s all creative. I don’t demarcate between genres in that sense. I love any excuse to write!11 - What kind of writing routine do you tend to keep, or do you even have one? How does a typical day (for you) begin?
Any author will tell you that no two days are the same. There have been some days where I jump out of bed and plop myself in front of my laptop and bang away at the keys for hours. There are other days where I need to take long walks to gather my thoughts and have some distance from the material. The creative process is rarely tidy.
The only process that I live by is writing all of my drafts by hand first. I only type them out on my laptop after I’ve written everything by hand first. I don’t know why, I think it’s because I feel like typing can be too fast (I type 90 wpm), so when I’m working on a sentence or a paragraph, I need to slow it down quite often, and physically scratching the ideas out into the page tends to help slow it down and work the idea through.
12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?
I think this is related to question 14 here, but I tend to turn to other forms of art. I love instrumental music, I love theatre, I love dance and opera, and I definitely love reading the books of my peers. For example, in order to help me answer these questions right now, I am listening to an overture by Alexandre Desplat.13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?
Coffee because my mum drinks a bajillion cups of it a day and so her hugs smell like coffee :)
14 - David W. McFadden once said that books come from books, but are there any other forms that influence your work, whether nature, music, science or visual art?
So as I mentioned above with question 12, definitely. I love instrumental music to help get my brain moving in different directions. I love the works of Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds, Canadian composer Chilly Gonzales (who is also a friend!), and more. I love arthouse independent movies because of how visual and non-linear they can be, which helps me to visualize some of the images of my stories. Many readers have called my descriptions vivid, and I think that’s because I can picture them clearly after using motion pictures to inspire my creative mind. For example, just yesterday I attended a TIFF screening of the Canadian indie movie SHOOK which takes place in Scarborough, Ontario. It was beautifully shot and as I walked home from the cinema, I felt incredibly in touch with the sounds and sights around me. That always helps the creative mind.
15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?
Honestly, I’ve always said that the only way to know what is good writing is to read a lot of bad writing. To do so, you have to read. You have to read everything you can get your hands on. While this might not be very specific, I have honed my style, my talent, and my voice over 30 years simply by reading everything and taking my style where it needed to go. If you read something I published 20 years ago, it is markedly different to what I’m publishing today.16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?
Become a bestseller.
17 - If you could pick any other occupation to attempt, what would it be? Or, alternately, what do you think you would have ended up doing had you not been a writer?
I’ve always loved dancing and to move my body. I took ballet and gymnastics and swimming as a little girl. So a part of me thinks that I would have loved to be a modern and contemporary dancer. As an adult, I’ve also taken ballroom dancing lessons (Viennese waltz, east coast swing, the rumba etc) so I like to think in another life I danced the chorus in Vaudeville or with Bob Fosse.18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?
I don’t think I had a choice in the matter. I’ve always been a storyteller and had this innate need to tell stories, even as a little girl. There never was a plan B. It was writing or bust.19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?
I read so much, so this is difficult to narrow it down to one! I just finished reading LIARS by Sarah Manguso which was a revelation. Before that I read GOOD GIRL by Aria Aber which was beautifully written. THE VEGETARIAN by Han Kang was so haunting. THE CAFE WITH NO NAME by Robert Seethaler was gorgeous and a continuation of his body of work that explores the small moments in a person’s life. I also surprisingly loved a kinda pulp fiction book called THE ALICE NETWORK by Kate Quinn which was set during the First and Second World Wars, of which I am an aficionado, so I eat that shit up. When it comes to films, as mentioned earlier, I just saw the Canadian film SHOOK at Tiff, which is set in Scarborough, Ontario, and it was beautiful. So funny, so poignant, so inspired. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.20 - What are you currently working on?
I’m working on a new manuscript that I’m superstitiously unwilling to talk about in depth (it will jinx it!) but I will say it’s a continuation of my body of work’s ethos, which has to deal with women’s stories, women of the global majority, and 20th century history. I’m about 160 pages in, and I’m aiming for 350, or just under 100,000 words, so wish me luck!
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