By: Radhika Iyer
How it all started
I have always enjoyed writing. Even as a child in primary school, I used to look forward to long writing tasks from my English class and relished writing compositions. I remember vividly when I was in Year 6 and my English teacher set the class a writing task. It was titled, “Blood is Thicker Than Water.” I can still recall how I began that piece, describing how my mother was waiting to collect me at the school gate after choir practice. I continued to write stories as a teenager in an angst-driven journal.
Using a leitmotif in writing
I found that my writings regularly had a leitmotif – a repeated image to emphasize a dramatic condition. In my early writings as a teenager, it was a black shoe. A black shoe that has stemmed from a childhood memory, perhaps a misplaced childhood memory. This black shoe then evolved and became central in stories of abuse and violence.
Using symbols in writing
My mother had a miscarriage when I was about six years old. I did not know what a miscarriage was at that age, but I kind of understood that the baby had died. A few years later, I was sitting on the floor polishing my father’s work shoes, a pair of lace up black shoes, when the phone rang. My mother answered it and someone had lost their baby. After the call, my mother told me about her miscarriage while I continued polishing those black shoes. Thus, the black shoe metamorphosed into a symbol of violence, pain, anguish, and loss.
Learning from other writers
My writing style has evolved and changed over time. I have not had any formal training in creative writing. However, I do learn a lot by watching and listening to writers speaking or being interviewed at literary festivals. I am interested in learning from the writers that I admire like Salman Rushdie, Haruki Murakami, Margaret Atwood, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Arvind Adiga. I identify most with writers from an Asian or Indian sub-continent background because they write about issues regarding immigration, culture, and identity.
My background
I share the same background with these writers. Being an ethnic minority born or raised in another country, coming from bilingual homes, and trying to assimilate into a second or third culture once we step out of our homes.
Why I write
I write because I have to. I need to. It makes me feel powerful. Writing gives me the power to alter real events, distort memories, reduce and intensify trauma, and aggravate events.
My writing style
I particularly enjoy creating female characters who are flawed but who are strong and self-aware. I am aware that my style is quite different from other acclaimed short story writers in Ireland and the UK. Sometimes I wish I could write like them. But then it’s not me, and I have to remain true to myself.
The flow of my writing
I usually just begin with a sentence and try to keep going. Later on, that sentence might be moved to another part of the story. But for me, it begins with a sentence. It’s while I am writing that I start to create the plot and characters. A trademark in most of my stories would be a sudden jump to the past. I usually use a phrase, a question, or something visual to trigger a painful memory from my protagonist’s past.
My protagonists
Describing a harrowing past, the reason they remember that particular past and their feelings about that past, helps me to shape my characters’ personalities and make them whole. To date, all my protagonists are female. Females who are either struggling with the past or present, females who are flawed, females who are victims, females who find a way to survive despite all odds.
My success in writing
I didn’t write for a few years after I moved to Ireland in 2015. During the first lockdown, I found out about pandemic, and I submitted a journal entry, “Masking the Difference.” It was received very well and featured on the Radio 1 Arena show. This small success reignited my need to keep writing.
Being disciplined in writing
One of the things that I have learnt from listening to established authors is the need for discipline. If writing is my vocation, then I should not treat it as a hobby. I needed to write regularly just as I would do with a job.
How to maintain a writing habit
From April to October 2020, I wrote every single day. Some days were more productive than others, but I got back into the writing habit. I returned to full time work in November 2020. So I set aside time every weekend to write. Sometimes I can write around 2000 words, sometimes only 200 words. The important thing is sustaining a writing habit, which is key to good writing.
Trying to get an agent
For a long while, I continued to write without really thinking about publishing. I read some advice on the internet about 10 years ago that instead of approaching publishers directly, I should get myself an agent. At that time, I was living in Dubai, and I did not know how to start. I did send my work to one agent in Ireland, but I never heard back. I did not persevere because I was shy, ashamed, and terrified to put my work “out there.”
Getting published
In 2020, when I was writing prolifically, I sent out samples of my work to a few publishers. I received a positive response from Castles In The Air Press. I was struck dumb because it was so unexpected. Working with my publishers who are also my editors has enriched my writing process and helped me see my work in a new light. It was challenging for me to talk about my work, to explain certain words and phrases I use, to delve into my characters through someone else’s eyes. However, working with them has bolstered my confidence and self-esteem, and I can finally say, I am a writer.
About the book
Release Date: August 1, 2021
Book Genre: Short Stories
Price: €7
Format: Ebook
Available on: All major Ebook sites
ISBN: 978-1-5272-9138-6
Introducing Radhika Iyer’s debut collection, Why are You Here? Twelve explosive short stories present twelve provoking female narratives.
Iyer’s unique style is quirky yet powerful, as she illustrates a sense of otherness, as an immigrant and as a woman of colour.
Iyer explores the struggle of being a woman in different cultures, as the stories take us from the harrowing results of a family scandal in Malaysia, to an internal cultural identity struggle in Dubai, to an abusive marriage amplified by the lockdown in Ireland.
This collection is ultimately about the female experience, and being different culturally, and in terms of shape and size.
The women of these stories face their internal and external battles, and as we follow their journeys, we come face to face with the struggle and the strength of women.
About the author
Radhika Iyer was born in Malaysia to migrant Indian parents. Her stories mainly explore themes of identity struggle, acceptance, and domestic violence. In 2020; an excerpt of Radhika’s journal piece was aired on RTE Radio 1’s Arena show, an excerpt of an article she wrote about working and living in Ireland was featured in the Irish Times, and a reflective piece was featured as part of the Keywords Podcast 5: Common Ground on RTE Radio1Extra and went on to be nominated for Best Short Feature in the 2020 IMRO Radio Awards. The short story, Why are you Here? was on the Cranked Anvil shortlist in late 2020. Radhika currently lives in and is trying to fit into Dundalk, Ireland.
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About Castles in the Air Press
Castles in the Air Press is a brand new, independent, boutique press. It was launched Summer 2020 and is completely female owned and run. We aim to publish unconventional stories and we are dedicated to finding unique and diverse Irish authors.
Publisher | Castles in the Air Press
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I feel like the process here is the process in writing and love of writing I also carry! As a collection of short stories passionately told, Why Are You Here sounds like an incredible book.
Thank you for sharing!