12 or 20 (second series) questions with Tāriq Malik

Tāriq Malik has worked across poetry, fiction, and art for the past four decades to distill immersive and compelling narratives that are always original. He writes intensely in response to the world in flux around him and from his place in its shadows. His published works, including Rainsongs of Kotli (TSAR Publications, short stories, 2004), Chanting Denied Shores (Bayeux Arts, novel, 2010), and now his poetry in Exit Wounds (Caitlin Press, Poetry, 2022) and Blood of Stone (Caitlin Press, Poetry, 2024), challenge entanglements in the barbed wires of racism and cultural stereotyping in art, the workplace and across societies.

Tāriq Malik is the current Writer-in-Residence at the Polyglot Magazine and a former Writer-in-Residence (July 2023) at the Historic Joy Kogawa House and has offered Poetry Master Classes at various locations.   

1 - How did your first book change your life? How does your most recent work compare to your previous? How does it feel different?

My first published book, Rainsongs of Kotli, was a compilation of loosely interwoven short stories set in the backwaters of Pakistani Punjab. It was challenging to describe the work and situate it for potential publishers. I received several very negative responses. Eventually, Rainsongs of Kotli was published by Toronto-based TSAR Publications in 2004, and that gave me confidence in my creative voice.

2 - How did you come to poetry first, as opposed to, say, fiction or non-fiction?

Rainsongs of Kotli, my first published work, began as a long poem that evolved into a historical fiction. However, I retained a few original poetic sections and transformed them into prose. 

My next book was based on the Komagata Maru saga, Chanting Denied Shores. In it, I included a handful of poems to vivify the narrative and serve as an itinerant poet's voice.

I ventured wholly into poetry for my third and fourth books, Exit Wounds and Blood of Stone. By then, I had some confidence in my poetic voice and was now less concerned about how these works would be received. I am glad I was able to make the transition to poetry and find my readers.

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?

I write almost daily, relying on my biphasic sleep patterns, and putting work together to submit is very often slow and laborious. While immersed in this lonely process, I feel empowered and sustained by the writing's drive, passion, and truth. At no point do I consider the reader's response to my narrative my sole concern, as this often gets in the way of the writing. If I do my task well enough, the reader will find my writing accessible and then willingly take the journey with me.

I tend to overwrite, hence there are several drafts, from which I later distill the work to its bare essence before the final submission.

4 - Where does a poem or 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?

Since my natural state as a poet is ekphrastic, I usually begin with a scene or an image. A piece of dialogue may inspire me to move onto the page and put down my personal take or view of the situation. The writing then dribbles in and is worked into a coherent whole (or incoherent whole, if I am deliberately risking obscurity). For me, the volta is often as compelling a section of the poem as the point of the reader's entry into it, even more so.

5 - Are public readings part of or counter to your creative process? Are you the sort of writer who enjoys doing readings?

I enjoy public readings immensely as the writer's voice introduces a nuance that the written word does not always convey. I also find that there is a significant challenge in reading concrete poems where the visual aspect of the phrase is a vital part of the work. However, given the subjective nature of my writing and its narrow focus on unfamiliar themes, I am rarely offered opportunities to read my own work.  

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?

I try to amplify a personal experience and viewpoint and attempt to vivify these for the reader.

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?

One of the roles of the writer in our culture is to engage with the social areas of concern/friction/intersection that are often outside the readers' sphere and then to elucidate these emotional and intellectual experiences in an engaging, enlightening, and entertaining manner.

8 - Do you find the process of working with an outside editor difficult or essential (or both)?

I have not yet had the fortune to work substantially with any editor for my fiction.

9 - What is the best piece of advice you've heard (not necessarily given to you directly)?

Be true to your art even if it does not find fertile soil to land on and flourish.

10 - How easy has it been for you to move between genres (poetry to short stories to the novel)? What do you see as the appeal?

My fiction is heavily laced with my poetics. My poetry is mostly concrete and narrative based.

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?

My writing day begins at around 4am.

12 - When your writing gets stalled, where do you turn or return for (for lack of a better word) inspiration?

Look for inspiration in writing I admire, primarily Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz for his rhythms. Lately, I am returning for inspiration in the poetry of Valzhyna Mort, Andrea Cohen, Laura Ritland, Tolu Oloruntoba, et al.

13 - What fragrance reminds you of home?

Petrichor, in other words, Blood of Stone.

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?

Nature, science, and visual arts are all inspirational for me. I am excited to be working on a poetry chapbook on the wisdom of trees, another inspired by ravens.

15 - What other writers or writings are important for your work, or simply your life outside of your work?

Robert Macfarlane (any of his multi-faceted writing), Pankaj Mishra's From the Ruins of Empire, Loren Eiseley's The Unexpected Universe, E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime. 

16 - What would you like to do that you haven't yet done?

Write a play or a screenplay, or collaborate on a creative project in this field.

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 have held scores of jobs before turning to writing: Plant chemist, candy factory worker (mercifully only one day), a nightshift at the pillow factory stuffing down feathers (four months), industrial lab chemist (17 years)

18 - What made you write, as opposed to doing something else?

I did not find any writings that related to my subjective lived experience.

19 - What was the last great book you read? What was the last great film?

Colum McCann's awesome Apeirogon.

A favorite TV series: The latest incarnation of The Talented Mr. Ripley (titled simply as Ripley).

20 - What are you currently working on?

I am busy with a poetry book tentatively titled STALAG NOW that explores the global consolidation of influence and wealth in the hands of ever fewer individuals and organizations, often in collusion with the military, and the experiences of the precariat societies living under these conditions.

My next novel, Blood Towers, will present an ant's POV of constructing glass pyramids in the desert sands to fulfill the wet dreams of latter-day pharaohs.

I am also working on a sophomore outing for my short story collection of Rainsongs of Kotli.

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