My Father is Reading my Novel

Folks, my father is reading my novel.

This has come as a complete shock.

My family tends not to engage with my written work (as far as I know, at least). When my brother told me he was reading my expletive laden literary novel AT SEA earlier this year, I was taken aback… but I wasn’t worried, per se. My brother is also an engineer, and frankly, I was more curious than afraid of his opinion.

But my father!

‘Courtesy of Yasseen’, said his text, to which I replied with 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮, swiftly followed by ‘Hahaha sorry about all the swearing’.

My oh my oh my.

It got me thinking: if I had known my father would be reading the novel, would I have written it differently? My father - although he himself is an engineer, and someone familiar-ish with the world I explore in the novel - probably wasn’t the audience I imagined while writing.

If I’m honest, the fact that I often don’t imagine my family members reading my work at all probably allows me a sense of freedom in my creative pursuits. That’s not to say I am embarrassed or ashamed of anything I write, that’s not quite it. There’s nothing in AT SEA or any other creative output I’ve produced that I don’t stand by, per se.

Culturally (in Sudan), it’s respectful to show a certain ‘face’ to one’s parents. That’s not to say you’re lying about who you are, but it’s about what is appropriate: you don’t speak to your parents like you speak to your friends, or your children, etc. Context matters. So a novel written for friends, professional peers and a public audience being read by my parents feels like a strange sort of context clash: it feels like they’re getting a peek into how I am like in other situations… and I’m not sure how to metabolise it!

If I’m to think about it more, I think it also touches on another nerve: how we do or don’t judge a person’s character based on their fictional works. There’s the question of how my father might alter his judgment of my character based on what I’ve written, but also the question of how I judge the characters of others based on their work.

I was thinking about this recently while reading this fascinating piece by a Gen Z writer (a reflection post after the publication of the initial review, here):

I was fascinated by this idea:

As a Gen Z reader, I came to criticism with the suspicion that the politics of self-presentation are at the core of writing and receiving novels. (Let’s be real: even as older generations die on the hill of separating art from its artist, younger writers know that ship has sailed. With digital footprints, it’s part of the fun!)

It’s so intriguing to me that Gen Z has such a distinct approach to some of these long-held literary debates. Out with the idea of separating the art from the artist, don’t be ridiculous! It seems to say. Part of me agrees… but part of me also wonders about how tied into that the idea of a fixed identity it. Not to separate the art from the artist is to imagine that the artist is one thing. It is predicated on the concept of a single self, a self that is consistent in every context, and I don’t know how I feel about that (is this me showing my age?!) It feels deeply connected to the internet age, where we are encouraged to present single versions of ourselves, consistent and marketable. However, we know there are limits. How does one grow and evolve? What does it look like to have an abolitionist approach to selves online?

I’m treading into territory here that is beyond the light musing of a Sunday Substack! Would love to hear your thoughts… (including on whether your family reads your work!?)

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If you’re in Edinburgh, I have a few more events, one on Monday (24th) with Nicola Sturgeon and Meena Kandasamy and one on Saturday (29th) with Molly Crabapple & Hannah Lilith Assadi. They will be great! Please come along. I’ve also got a Book Club on 3rd Sept in West London and a chat with Chris Power on the 27th Sept in East London.

There are also a few continental European events in the works, will let you know as soon as the details are firmed up inshallah.

Congrats to Readiverse, the winner of the summer giveaway, and thanks to the over 4300 of y’all who entered the AT SEA Goodreads giveaway; ten winners have been selected and y’all will be receiving your copies soon! Inshallah.

Thanks lastly to the wonderful Ramona magazine for featuring AT SEA in this lovely interview! I talk about bringing rig work to the world of fiction, and more.

You may remember I did a piece (and a podcast episode) on my brilliant aunt the professor, teaching students during the war in Sudan.

Recently, she’s returned to Khartoum, and alongside her students they are attempting to rehabilitate the university so they can restart studies.

They’re raising money to buy solar panels and a water pump. The goal for now is 2000 USD in total, and I’m collecting money through this link. Every little bit helps.

DONATE NOW

I think that’s all for now…? I will have news to share about the SILVERBROOK SEQUEL very soon (weeee!!) and your regular reminder that AT SEA makes for an excellent gift… ;) Beyond that, enjoy the rest of August inshallah, and chat soon!