Interview with the Author
From Random House:
IN HER OWN WORDS: A conversation with Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind
Q: When did you know you wanted to become a writer?
A: I have always wanted to write—from the time I was a toddler, walking around with pencil and paper, asking adults to teach me to write my name, or the names of flowers, or things around the house. I was different from other family members, and I felt like an outsider. Writing was a way to express myself. And in stories I found ways of looking at the world that helped me make my own sense of it.
Q: What inspired you to write Shabanu? Was there a specific person who inspired Shabanu’s character?
A: I worked on a literacy project for women in a rural village in Pakistan’s Punjab province, and during my time there met many women who were eager to tell me stories about their lives. I found myself seeing that our experiences were very similar. Despite the profound differences in our cultures, we shared hopes, dreams, a sense of humor, a sense of romance. It made me want to further explore the universality of human experience.
I met a girl named Mariyam in one of the villages of Cholistan. She was an orphan being raised by her grandmother. Because it was just Mariyam and her grandmother, they were very independent and more than a little eccentric—rather like Auntie Sharma and Fatima are in the story. I started to think about what ramifications there would be for a woman who was so different in such a rigidly traditional society. I loved Mariyam’s resourcefulness and courage and strength and worried about what it would cost her.
Q: How did you start writing Shabanu? What parts of the story came together first?
A: Virtually every scene in both Shabanu and Haveli is based on a story someone told me about herself, or a relative, or someone she knew. I also relied on things I witnessed myself, like the Sibi Mela; the wrestling matches, both human and camel; the Channan Pir shrine; Derawar Fort; the Desert Rangers. I also watched stories unfolding in the families of my friends in Pakistan. I wrote down scenes based on these real-life stories and then began to connect them. I actually began telling the story from Grandfather’s point of view. I liked the idea that he was old and got confused, mixing up the present and the past. In the Cholistan Desert you often feel as if you’ve somehow gotten caught in a time centuries past—perhaps in the time of the Old Testament. Very early on I heard this strong little voice in the back of my mind. That became the voice of Shabanu, who took over narrating the story.
Q: How did you conduct your research for the book?
A: A lot of times I would see things as I traveled and did not understand their significance. So I would go to the library at the University of the Punjab in Lahore and look up old documents about the Abbasids, or the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage Institute in Rawalpindi to look for documentation of history, and for the origins of myths and legends. I also interviewed many people who were from Cholistan and knew the nomads, the shrines, the poetry and traditions.
Q: What were some of your most interesting experiences while living in Pakistan?
A: I was constantly surprised by the rural peoples of Pakistan, most of whom were extraordinarily poor. They were living on the very edge of survival—yet they were extremely generous, hospitable, and dignified. They always offered me a meal or bread and tea—whatever they had. They were always welcoming and kind. Living and working among them made me grow and taught me the value of an open mind and heart. There were some terrible times—times of drought when their animals were dying and they were forced to leave the desert—but they were always courageous and hospitable.
Q: What advice do you have for young writers?
A: I think it’s very important to honor your ideas and your dreams. When I was younger, my family worried because I was a daydreamer and an idealist, and because I wanted to be a writer. I didn’t know how to want to be something else. And I’m very happy to have ended up doing what I do. Your dreams can’t come true if you don’t have dreams. My parents also were right, however: It’s important to be practical and to learn to do things that are perhaps less fun to do. But those dreams are essential.
And ideas: If you don’t respect your ideas, make note of them, and keep your mind open to them, they’ll float right past you, like fish in the ocean. So I think journaling is important—being in the habit of making notes about what moves you, what impresses you, how things feel to you. If you don’t respect your ideas, nobody else will. Keeping a journal gives weight and substance to your thoughts and ideas.
IN HER OWN WORDS: A conversation with Suzanne Fisher Staples, author of Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind
Q: When did you know you wanted to become a writer?
A: I have always wanted to write—from the time I was a toddler, walking around with pencil and paper, asking adults to teach me to write my name, or the names of flowers, or things around the house. I was different from other family members, and I felt like an outsider. Writing was a way to express myself. And in stories I found ways of looking at the world that helped me make my own sense of it.
Q: What inspired you to write Shabanu? Was there a specific person who inspired Shabanu’s character?
A: I worked on a literacy project for women in a rural village in Pakistan’s Punjab province, and during my time there met many women who were eager to tell me stories about their lives. I found myself seeing that our experiences were very similar. Despite the profound differences in our cultures, we shared hopes, dreams, a sense of humor, a sense of romance. It made me want to further explore the universality of human experience.
I met a girl named Mariyam in one of the villages of Cholistan. She was an orphan being raised by her grandmother. Because it was just Mariyam and her grandmother, they were very independent and more than a little eccentric—rather like Auntie Sharma and Fatima are in the story. I started to think about what ramifications there would be for a woman who was so different in such a rigidly traditional society. I loved Mariyam’s resourcefulness and courage and strength and worried about what it would cost her.
Q: How did you start writing Shabanu? What parts of the story came together first?
A: Virtually every scene in both Shabanu and Haveli is based on a story someone told me about herself, or a relative, or someone she knew. I also relied on things I witnessed myself, like the Sibi Mela; the wrestling matches, both human and camel; the Channan Pir shrine; Derawar Fort; the Desert Rangers. I also watched stories unfolding in the families of my friends in Pakistan. I wrote down scenes based on these real-life stories and then began to connect them. I actually began telling the story from Grandfather’s point of view. I liked the idea that he was old and got confused, mixing up the present and the past. In the Cholistan Desert you often feel as if you’ve somehow gotten caught in a time centuries past—perhaps in the time of the Old Testament. Very early on I heard this strong little voice in the back of my mind. That became the voice of Shabanu, who took over narrating the story.
Q: How did you conduct your research for the book?
A: A lot of times I would see things as I traveled and did not understand their significance. So I would go to the library at the University of the Punjab in Lahore and look up old documents about the Abbasids, or the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage Institute in Rawalpindi to look for documentation of history, and for the origins of myths and legends. I also interviewed many people who were from Cholistan and knew the nomads, the shrines, the poetry and traditions.
Q: What were some of your most interesting experiences while living in Pakistan?
A: I was constantly surprised by the rural peoples of Pakistan, most of whom were extraordinarily poor. They were living on the very edge of survival—yet they were extremely generous, hospitable, and dignified. They always offered me a meal or bread and tea—whatever they had. They were always welcoming and kind. Living and working among them made me grow and taught me the value of an open mind and heart. There were some terrible times—times of drought when their animals were dying and they were forced to leave the desert—but they were always courageous and hospitable.
Q: What advice do you have for young writers?
A: I think it’s very important to honor your ideas and your dreams. When I was younger, my family worried because I was a daydreamer and an idealist, and because I wanted to be a writer. I didn’t know how to want to be something else. And I’m very happy to have ended up doing what I do. Your dreams can’t come true if you don’t have dreams. My parents also were right, however: It’s important to be practical and to learn to do things that are perhaps less fun to do. But those dreams are essential.
And ideas: If you don’t respect your ideas, make note of them, and keep your mind open to them, they’ll float right past you, like fish in the ocean. So I think journaling is important—being in the habit of making notes about what moves you, what impresses you, how things feel to you. If you don’t respect your ideas, nobody else will. Keeping a journal gives weight and substance to your thoughts and ideas.
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