Interview with Shirani Rajapakse

Today's another day for an interview and we're going international with author and poet Shirani Rajapakse, who stops by to discuss her new book and her writing...

Interview with Shirani Rajapakse
 

  1.     Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself.

Hi I’m from Sri Lanka. I write poetry, plays and fiction. I’ve been writing for over fifteen years but only started publishing recently. Last year I published my debut collection of short stories titled Breaking News (Vijitha Yapa 2011). It was shortlisted for the Gratiaen Award 2010 in manuscript. Since then I’ve been submitting work, mostly poetry, to various e-zines and anthologies.

  2.     You are a poet, a playwright and a fiction writer.  Do you find shifting between different writing styles to be a challenge or does it come easily to you?

I first started writing poetry way back when. A few years later I began experimenting with fiction and liked that too. Playwriting is a more recent addition. I saw something on the web about a playwriting competition and although I hadn’t written a play before I thought I should try to write one even if I didn’t submit it to the competition. It seemed like a challenge – an exercise in writing to see if I could make it work. I began writing the play and enjoyed it so much that I decided to write another. It was extremely stimulating to do something different in terms of writing; to tell a story in a different form. In a play unlike in fiction you can’t show the atmosphere through narrative. Everything rests with the characters and you have to be careful what words you give them to speak as the spoken word is crucial. One wrong sentence and you lose the momentum. So this was a challenge. 

Strange as it may seem I don’t find it hard to move from one writing style to another. I don’t sit down at my computer and say, now I’m going to write fiction or poetry. It just comes out the way it does. I usually write in my head first and then put it all down in the computer. Writing in different styles is also helpful as I don’t get stuck with writer’s block and whenever I’m stuck writing poetry I can move to prose and vice versa. I don’t write as many plays, just written two, but when I was writing I didn’t have a problem getting through with it.

  3.     Which do you enjoy doing most, writing poetry, plays or stories?

I think I’d answer that with all. They are all different and pose different challenges. For instance an incident that takes place on a rainy can be written in different ways as a story, a poem or even as a play. You can say three different things about the same incident and it is interesting to be able to create different types of art with the same situation or incident. It’s also interesting to see what comes out in different styles and this is what I enjoy the most. Similarly if you use the same incident and fit it into different genre you can also have something different.

  4.     Where do you find inspirations for your poetry?

I’m inspired by just about anything and everything around me. Something I read about could set off words, or an incident on the road or a picture. It’s not hard to get inspired to write poetry. I think poetry is one of the few mediums you can work in where you never get bored. I’m sometimes surprised I can write more poetry than fiction as I don’t really consider myself a poet but more of a fiction writer.

  5.     Could you tell us about your book of short stories, Breaking News?

Breaking News is a collection of nine short stories. It is of mixed genre. Four of the stories fall into the “living under the threat of terrorism” genre or category. The Sri Lankan government was locked in a war against terrorism for 30 years and most of the time people lived in fear of being attacked. It was like living in a 9/11 scenario for 30 years. The four stories set in different parts of the country and portraying the lives of people in various social milieu and ethnic background depicts life during these turbulent times. Six of the stories are told from the woman’s perspective or have women as central characters.

  6.     What do you enjoy most about writing?

I enjoy the freedom to write what I want and how I want. I enjoy being able to move from fiction to poetry to drama and back and I enjoy juggling ideas for stories or poetry in my head and seeing how they turn out on the page. It’s also the ability to work with words, choosing different words to suit the context as it were. Somewhat like doing a crossword where you have to find the appropriate words for the story.

  7.     What’s a typical writing day like for you?

Sometimes it can be quite boring with nothing to do but edit what I’ve already written, and I do spend a lot of time editing or going through my work before I submit anything. But when I start writing it is sometimes nonstop until either my brain tires out or my fingers stop working the way they are supposed to. I think you tend to be busier when you are a full time writer.

  8.     Who are your favourite writers?

I have many favourite writers. The strange thing is some of the writers I considered as favourites in the nineties, when I was studying literature at the University, like Thomas Hardy and E.M. Forster are no longer my favourites. I’ve outgrown them like I’ve outgrown most others. I used to think this was strange but then realised that perhaps the reason I liked them at that time was due to some reason which is no longer relevant now. Presently I’m reading Orhan Pamuk, and Paulo Coelho. I just finished reading Simone de Beauvoir.  

  9.     Do you have any upcoming projects or books?

I’m submitting poetry and fiction to e-zines and anthologies regularly. Some of my poetry is expected to be published in Contemporary Poetry from India, a poetry anthology featuring Indian and Sri Lankan poets. I’m not sure when it will be due. I’m editing a novel that I want to submit to publishers and I’m also involved in promoting an anthology called Song Of Sahel that brings together artists from around the world to create awareness about the plight of the people living in the Sahel region in Africa. The anthology will include poetry, prose, art, photography and music and will be in the form of a multi-media book and will be launched worldwide on the web on September 15.  Apart from this I’m trying to put together some of my poems into a collection to be published sometime in the future.


You can find more about Shirani Rajapakse and her books on her website:  http://shiranirajapakse.wordpress.com

Interview With Author Robert Ford

Today we are joined by writer and filmmaker Robert Ford, who stops by for an interview:

 

 Interview With Robert Ford

1- Why don’t you begin by sharing a little about yourself.

Hello. My name is Robert Ford. I live in London and divide my time between writing and working in film and television on the editorial side of things. Currently in training for the Graeco-Roman wrestling, Rio 2016.

2- You’ve written your first novel, The King of Spain.  Can you tell us a bit about it?

The King of Spain is set in an old people’s home, in the future. It’s a dark comedy about the people who work there and the adventures they have. It’s quite silly but very serious and hugely entertaining. Of course.

3- What inspired you to write this particular story?

The King of Spain came about through a collision of elements, of thoughts and concerns. There were a set of personal strands that I wanted to explore and a set that were more global. It sound obvious, but the more I thought about things, the more I came to realize that these two tracts were absolutely interrelated, and it was from that starting point that everything else flowed.

4- You’ve written several screenplays, as well as the book.  What is the biggest difference you’ve found between writing a screenplay and a novel?

I loved the freedom that a novel affords you. You don’t have to think about the physical or financial constraints of making the final film. About casting or time pressures or any of those things. It felt liberating, not least in the respect that I could suddenly use language in a much more sophisticated manner - my screenplays were probably over cooked in terms of stage directions etc. At the same time I tried to remember that with a screenplay you can conjure a scene, and introduce characters with very few words. There is an economy inherent in their form and at their best this allows the reader to flex their imagination, which is a real strength.

5- You’ve also worked in film and had your directorial debut with Sexy Pig, broadcast on the BBC HD channel.  What was that experience like?

It was great, especially as the film was shot for no money and with no resources. Felt like we achieved a great deal with not much.

6- What is a typical day of writing like for you?

Unfortunately I rarely get to write during the day. More often I’ll write at night, when the rest of the world is sleeping.

7- What’s your greatest challenge when it comes to writing?

Finding time. Ideas come to me easily. I write slowly but I get there in the end. The biggest issue I have is finding time after work to write, especially now that I have a daughter. And I’m not someone who does well off no sleep, although I’ve had to adapt. My greatest wish is that one day someone will pay me to write. During the day.

8- Who are your writing inspirations?

Lewis Carol, Hubert Selby Jnr, Hunter S Thompson, Charles Dickens, Graham Greene, Roald Dahl, Haruki Marukami.

9- What’s next for you?

Once all the 4p royalties are in from the book I plan to buy a boat. Well, a rubber dinghy anyway. Yachts are so, like, last year. The dingy is a classic design and cheaper to run. My wife has offered to row us across the Irish Sea so we may hole up in Dublin for a while. TBC.

Author Bio:

After graduating from Reading University in 2003, Robert Ford briefly worked as a journalist in India before turning to the world of film editing, where he has been employed ever since. As well as prose, he has written several screenplays, and his directorial debut Sexy Pig was broadcast on the BBC HD channel last year.

He now lives and works in north-west London, roaming the streets in search of inspiration, drinking too much coffee and not writing as much as he should.

The King of Spain

When unworldly 22-year-old Sam is offered the chance to swap life in his regulation bungalow for a job at a countryside retirement home, he drops everything and heads to the rolling fields of Sussex. But things at the eerie Edge Hill are far from what he imagined.

The residents are easily over 100 years old, but due to rigorous cosmetic upkeep they look like they are in their twenties. The strange ‘handlers’ who work in the facility seem to have everything under control – until a geriatric stampede sets off a mind-blowing sequence of events that threatens to alter his life for ever.

In this sensational debut novel set in the not-too-distant future, Robert Ford has created a universe of his own in order to brilliantly illuminate the one – and the age – we all share…

 

The King of Spain:

http://apostrophebooks.com/kingofspain/