Changing Narratives

Like Mohamed,not only do the Granta 2013 authors hail from multicultural backgrounds,but even their stories and characters come from diverse regions. “I think most fiction is connected to the author in some way. What I write is closely bound with my family history,” says Mohamed.

Apart from the Granta list,multicultural literature is increasingly making its mark in the UK,and the world over,with several nominations and awards to going to such works. But does this point to a corresponding trend in the publishing industry and the literary world? “It’s definitely striking,and it’s difficult to believe that it’s a total coincidence. But it’ll be interesting to see whether it persists. It’s fashion and taste to some extent,” says David Szalay,another 2013 Granta author who participated in the interaction.

Szalay,who is part Hungarian and part Canadian,moved to the UK when he was about a year old. Despite his origins,Szalay’s novels (London and the South East,The Innocent and Spring) and his style are often described as “very British”. He does admit that his international parentage has played a part in shaping him

and his work.

“I suppose there was always a slight gap,a sense of being an outsider with some thing as simple as my name Szalay,which

is a Hungarian name no one can ever pronounce (pronounced as saw-loy). I’m talking about something very subtle but quite significant,” he says.

Both the authors spoke about how they are enjoying the change in the industry not just as writers,but also as readers — exploring stories from far-flung corners of the world. Mohamed mentions The Kite Runner (by Afghan-American Khaled Hosseini) and Half of a Yellow Sun (by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie),while Szalay mentions Indian books such as The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy) and The White Tiger (Aravind Adiga),which he enjoyed for the fresh and original views they gave of India.

“Different types of books and books about different places are being published,so that’s a big hurdle cleared right there,” says Mohamed. However,there’s still a long way to go before literature and how it is perceived become entirely multicultural.

She adds,“I used to work in a library,and lots of librarians — and probably book shop owners — don’t know what to do with books by non-Western people.”