Farah Ali: Exploring the Why Behind People’s Behaviors
Farah Ali is the writer of the short-story collection People Want to Live. Her work has been anthologized in Best Small Fictions and the Pushcart Prize where it has also received special mention. Her stories have appeared in Shenandoah, Kenyon Review, Ecotone, and elsewhere. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Farah Ali
In this post, Farah shares what is at the center of all her writing, how climate change is a visible force in her novel, and more.
Name: Farah Ali
Literary agent: Chad Luibl
Book title: The River, The Town
Publisher: Dzanc
Release date: October 17, 2023
Genre/category: Literary fiction
Previous titles: People Want to Live (McSweeney’s)
Elevator pitch for the book: When drought strikes a part of the country and a main river begins to dry up, a family begins to change in ways that leaves them questioning everything about themselves.
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What prompted you to write this book?
Reading about recurring droughts in parts of Pakistan while bracing for another flood or flood-like situation in Karachi made me think about what living like that, year after year, could do to a person. And if that person went on to have a family, how that trouble would translate into relationships.
At the center of all my writing is the need to explore the “why” behind people’s behaviors. And though there is no way to say for certain that diminishing water and other resources is a perfect why, I believe they do contribute to a person changing in some ways.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
It took between three to four years to go from first draft to publication. The book changed a lot, though all the drafts circled around the main idea, which mainly had to do with the setting (the problem of water), and one of the characters stayed pretty much the same. By the time I reached the version where I felt the voice was what I had intended, the book had changed quite a bit. I got closer to what I was trying to say.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
As more people hear about this book, and as early readers go through it, I learn that climate change is a visible force in it, despite not taking center stage.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I had initially set out to write a one-person narrative which was going to move forward, not into the past. But the story had a different mind, and it became a three-person novel which explores at least one person’s past.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
The idea of the family and of relationships is at the center of this book. Those are the things that are buckling under circumstances beyond the characters’ control. However, they find support and companionship in ways they couldn’t have thought of before, almost as if they subconsciously sought each other out. That’s important to me, that idea of togetherness and love, and I hope readers see that in the book.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
I would say read widely, and don’t worry about writing every day.