Interview with Soniah Kamal, Author of Unmarriageable

I had the pleasure of interviewing the amazing award-winning author Soniah Kamal. Her latest novel Unmarriageable is now out in paperback. Soniah shared some insights into accepting her journey as a writer and the cultural obstacles she faced on that journey. 

1. Why and how did you get into writing?

I wanted to be an actress but my father forbade it because he didn’t deem acting a respectable profession. Writing seems to have chosen me, in fact I call myself a reluctant writer, and there was a time when I thought regrets were going to bury me. Living with regrets is hard enough, but parental/cultural given regrets are acidic, and how do you possibly heal from that?  

2. What did you hope to get out of this career as a professional and on a personal level?

​When you’re younger, you think you can change the world, but as an older person even bringing a smile, or hope, or comfort to one reader is enough. Books were my balm growing up and I hope my words can serve as someone’s balm too.

3. What compelled/inspired you to write Unmarriageable?

​Unmarriageable is a parallel retelling meaning that it hits all the plot points of Pride and Prejudice. I was inspired to write it in order to remap colonial legacy in a postcolonial world and reclaim identity and also fuse my English language/British literature upbringing with my Pakistani culture. Also, Pride and Prejudice is so very much a novel reflecting Pakistani concerns with its social climbing mother frantic to get her five daughters married off well and the way Austen exposes social hypocrisies and pretensions which give birth to people like Mrs. Bennet.     

4. You write about South Asian, specifically, Pakistani culture. Who is the target audience in your mind when you are writing?

I write what is important for me to address which is very often cultural misunderstandings, class issues and feminist and postcolonial concerns. I hope my stories are universal enough to resonate with readers everywhere and so I really have no target audience.

5. What are some obstacles you have faced in your profession as a woman of color?

A few years back, I found that the U.S. publishing industry had certain expectations such as asking whether an immigrant family in the U.S. would be eating pizza at home, I suppose meaning that the family wasn’t exotic, ‘other’ enough. On the flip side, I’d worry about whether including a mango in my work might imply exotification and othering on purpose. I have to say that given that there are marriages etc. in Unmarriageable, I was a little wary of publisher expectations and suggestions, but I was truly delighted when my editor at Penguin Random House (U.S.) had none. I was to tell the story I wanted to tell in which every way I wanted with however much color, or not, I chose to put in it. Unmarriageable is a feel good novel told through a feminist and postcolonial lens and it had had nothing to do with immigration, woe woman is me, or terrorism, and I’m so thrilled it’s resonated with readers across all cultures and backgrounds. 

6. What are some opportunities you have come across in your profession as a woman of color?

I’ll let you know when I see them. Lol.

7. Do you feel you are compensated fairly for the work you do?

No. Writers are all too often expected to write for free or for peanuts.

8. What advice would you give to women of color/South Asian-American women who want to follow your career path?

Marry a millionaire, as long as he is a kind and good person. Seriously though, tell the story you want to tell. Unlike when I began writing, there are so many indie presses now who are willing to bring your voice to readers, and also books by independent small presses are getting reviews and coverage that before used to be very difficult to procure. Never give up no matter how much rejection you encounter. It’s taken me twenty years, but Unmarriageable was published in the U.S. and my novel An Isolated Incident is coming out in the U.K. this year.

About Unmarriageable

Soniah Kamal’s novel, Unmarriageable, is a Financial Times Readers’ Best Book of 2019, a 2019 Book All Georgians Should Read, and shortlisted for the 2020 Townsend Prize for Fiction. Her debut novel, An Isolated Incident, was a finalist for the KLF French Fiction Prize and the Townsend Prize for Fiction. Soniah's TEDx talk is about second chances. Her work is in New York Times, Guardian, Buzzfeed, Catapult, Normal School, Georgia Review and more.  www.soniahkamal.com twitter & instagram: @soniahkamal 

The paper back of Unmarriageable is out now and contains the following bonus features:
Essay- How ‘Dilipabad’ got its name.
Essay- How the characters were named.
Book Club Questions.
A List of all the books, films, songs etc. in Unmarriageable.​

---

Thank you Soniah for your inspiring words and the complex stories you tell about our South Asian community.

I’m sure you found Soniah’s interview insightful. If you have questions or thoughts about her interview or her work, please feel to leave a comment below. 

You can learn more about Soniah Kamal at her website: www.soniahkamal.com
You can also find her on Twitter & Instagram @SoniahKamal

You can sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of the page for updates on my writing, workshops, and events.

The next blog will be more #browngirlwrites stories, interviews, and book reviews.
Until then…

Happy Writing! :)

Find me on social media. Links at the bottom of the page 👇🏽
​
Art by Loso F. Perez of Prime Vice Studios