Interview with Novelist Prajwal Parajuly | The Applicant

We are pleased to interview novelist Prajwal Parajuly with the recommendation of Nepali Journalist Deepak Adhikari. Here?s the exclusive interview with the Gangtok-born novelist.

The kind of hype that accompanied Prajwal Parajuly?s book signing hasn?t been seen in many years. Soon after he signed with Quercus (Publisher of the Year 2011) newspapers in South Asia and the UK declared his record-breaking two-book deal as the harbinger of the resurgence of the short story and him as the next big thing in South Asian fiction. And the world just couldn?t get enough. One of his poems was a Facebook status update. Even that made a few news stories! Prajwal Parajuly?s first book The Gurkha?s Daughter will be out in November in South Asia this year and in December and January in the UK, South Africa, Singapore, the Middle East and Australia. Mr. Parajuly just finished his gig as a writer-in-residence at Truman State University in Missouri. In this interview we find out why Prajwal Parajuly is who he is and about his rise to stardom. For more information about his books visit?https://www.facebook.com/prajwalparajuly

1) Being born in a small but beautiful and prosperous Gangtok, Sikkim and having an Indian father and a Nepalese mother?can you tell us briefly about your upbringing and childhood days? Did you read a lot in your childhood days and even write? ?How were your days in Tashi Namgyal Academy, Gangtok? Who influenced you to write? Did you attend any writing course? How was your family and peer reaction/support? Did you have a circle in Gangtok who helped you in writing?

Growing up in Gangtok was a lot of fun. Those were simple days ? no cell phones, no Internet, no Facebook. We?d visit Kalimpong, where my grandparents were based, once a month and Kathmandu, where my mother?s family is based, once or twice a year. At Tashi Namgyal Academy, I had excellent English teachers, each one of whom was supportive and asked me to take my writing seriously. It helped that a paper called THE WEEKEND REVIEW started when I was in Class Nine. It also helped that the editor of the paper, who?s now the editor of NOW!, gave me the opportunity to write for it. It?s a tremendous boost to one?s morale when one is 14 and has an article published in a paper that?s read by thousands of people in the state.

2) You became a columnist at Truman State University and an advertising executive at The Village Voice. How have these positions influenced your writing? What made you quit?

Perhaps in ways I don?t know. Writing a weekly column wasn?t exactly ?creative? writing. I had an excellent Creative Writing professor at Truman, with whom I still exchange stories, so that helped. The Village Voice job ? ah! I could write a novel about it next ? I?d claim I had appointments and watch movies or disappear to a Barnes & Noble and read all day. One thing led to another ? I realized I had stopped being able to read Nepali fluently, the job continued being uninspiring, and?I was financially in a position not to have a job ? so I quit. Spending hours every day in movie theatres gets old. I could have been searching for meaning ? yeah, yeah new-age claptrap that it may be; I was perhaps looking for meaning, contentment, and fulfillment. Ha, ha. Sometimes dead-end jobs are important so you know what exactly you do not want out of life.

3) After quitting job you started to travel widely in South Asia, UK and US and got influenced by Bhutanese refugees. Is your short story collection The Gurkha?s Daughters: Stories a product of it?

The first book contains stories about Nepali-speaking people all over. A lot of the stories came to when I travelled, visited refugee camps and spoke to people.

4) What difficulties have you faced in writing and getting published? Generally speaking, writing is a constant process so what?s your way of writing and where do you prefer to write? What is the best advice ever you?ve got for writing?

I am not the right person to give you advice regarding writing because I am the most ill-disciplined writer you will ever find. I don?t write every day. I can?t. I don?t write every week. I can?t. I write when the mood strikes ? and I write and write and write. I stop when I feel like it. I don?t force the writing to come to me. I have now been writing for two years and know that that burst of inspiration will eventually strike ? when it hits me, I know better than to let go of it. I have written for seventeen-hour sessions and not written for a few months. It works for me, but it?s unhealthy. My sleep schedule has gone crazy.

5) As Quercus Books have secured rights to your two books The Gurkha?s daughter: Stories and your debut novel Land Where I Flee, how do you feel to be published by a major publication house? Was the journey easy for you? What steps did you take to get published? Moreover, getting to study in Oxford is more like of a dream to anyone ? has the writing course in Oxford sharpened your skills? You?ve been?appointed a writer-in-residence at a reputed university in America while still a student. You must be among those very few writers who have been invited as visiting faculty even before you were published. How does it feel?

I got lucky. I met Susan Yearwood, my agent, by chance and she circulated the manuscript among a few publishers. I was not expecting the book to be snapped up by Jon Riley, who?s one of the most respected editors in London. He had been the editor-in-chief of Faber and Faber ? a publisher I have always liked ? before he took over at Quercus, and I was slightly intimidated when he asked for a meeting. We talked about the way I worked and the way he worked, and I decided he was the right editor for me. If you ask me if the journey to get a book deal was easy or difficult, I?d say it was a combination of being at the right place at the right time, my work resonating with some people and a great deal of luck. Oxford has been an excellent experience ? it taught me to dabble with genres about which I knew nothing. I wrote poems, I wrote a screenplay, and I met some wonderful people. Regarding the writer-in-residence position,?I feel honoured and humbled, of course.?It was an excellent experience, and I got to interact with very, very talented students. I?ve always enjoyed teaching. The residency made me realize even more what a rewarding profession it can be.

6) You?re already mentioned as the harbinger of the resurgence of the short story and the next big thing of South Asian fiction, how does this make you feel?

I try not to take these labels seriously. People have been very kind and supportive. That?s been nice.

7) What are your topics and themes in your novel and short stories? Often novelists tend to veer toward Western values whilst writing a novel i.e. sex, homosexuality, gender perspective et al. Have you too incorporated the same themes in your work or can we expect something unique in your forthcoming books?

Sex, homosexuality and gender perspectives are hardly Western values alone. I?d have to ask you to read the books and make up your mind about whether I have incorporated such themes.

8) Who?s your favourite Nepalese author? If not, whose works have influenced you in your writings?

My favourite author writing in Nepali is Indra Bahadur Rai. I remember there was this story based in a Darjeeling bookstore about a young boy and his alcoholic father who couldn?t afford to pay for the son?s books. Have you read it? It?s my favourite story written in Nepali. It was one of the stories in ?Kehi Kathaharu,?one of ?the ICSE Nepali textbooks during my times.

9) What about English authors?

Among English authors, I like Wodehouse, Austen, Dickens, Tom Wolfe, Nabokov, etc. The list is always evolving. I also like Enid Blyton.

10) What advice/message do you wish to convey to aspiring Nepalese writers and novelists? Particularly, about publishing, what tips/suggestions do you want to give as often it?s a tough nut to crack to get a publisher/agent?

If you think you have a story to tell and can write well, WRITE. It?s easy to come up with excuses. It?s easy to blame the world. It?s easy NOT to write. Writing is often difficult. Read, read, and read. Read proper magazines. Network. Find a mentor. Join a writing group. Become a member of a library. Have a library at home. Liaise with editors and publishers. Attend events. Some of these may work for you while others may not. Find out what does and do more of it.

Source: http://www.theapplicant.org/site/interview-prajwal-parajuly/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=interview-prajwal-parajuly

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