Emerging Writers Series: Saman Shad
“My key lesson is persistence and perseverance. If this is something you really want to do, then you have to keep at it. A lot of the writing business is about timing – and that is something that’s beyond our control. Instead, focus on what you can control, and that is your writing. Keep writing and keep trying because being a creative is hard, but ultimately we do it for the love of our craft.”
Saman Shad’s debut novel, The Matchmaker (2023), is a wonderful romp of a rom-com with an intriguing cultural twist. Set in Sydney, The Matchmaker focuses on the practice of arranged marriages in the desi community and introduces us to professional matchmaker Saima and her newest (reluctant) client, Kal.
It’s a classic narrative of couple meet-don’t get along-spent time together-fall in love, but one that explores so much more than romantic tropes.
To go alongside my review (read it here), I had the chance to put together some questions for Saman about her experiences writing her debut novel, her journey to publication, and why persistence might be the most crucial skill writers can seek to cultivate.
I start these interviews with a similar question to help readers learn more about you! Could you tell us a little about your journey to becoming a writer and what inspired you to start writing?
I’ve been writing for a long time and in lots of different mediums. I moved to London in my early 20s and started my writing career there. I began as a playwright and had my plays shown in various theatres.
After that, I was a scriptwriter for a BBC radio show for five years. When I moved back to Sydney, I started my career in journalism and have since written for a number of publications.
But it was always my dream to write a novel – and I did have some failed attempts in London, where I wrote three novels that went unpublished. I persisted, however, and The Matchmaker (my debut novel) is the result.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Matchmaker and think it’s a wonderful addition to the rom-com genre. I read that you’ve had your own experiences with matchmaking, and would love to hear more about that and the inspiration behind the book?
I’ve not personally had experiences with matchmaking however, a family member who grew up in Australia approached their family asking to have an arranged marriage, and I thought it was a curious thing that someone would want that.
The more I thought about it the more it brought up the questions of how one would go about getting an arranged marriage, especially in a place like Sydney, and that’s when the idea of a matchmaker came to mind.
You’ve found a good balance between writing about the desi community and culture in a way that isn’t alienating for new audiences who might be unfamiliar. What are some of the things you hope readers take away from engaging with The Matchmaker beyond the romance narrative?
I hope that people get a better understanding of the desi community in Australia and especially that we aren’t one big monolith. Instead, within the community, we are a diverse lot with our own ways of looking at the world.
There are lots of distinctions that people within the community make based on class, education, profession, background, etc, and I bring that up in the book as well. I also wanted to highlight this by having both my protagonists come from similar cultural backgrounds but set up as very different people.
Saima and Kal are really well-developed characters, as are all your characters. I know character development can be a real struggle for many new authors - do you have any tips you could share around this from your experience of developing this book?
In this instance, for this book, I know my community and the people within it intimately, so when it came to drawing up the characters, I felt like I already knew them.
And before you ask, the characters weren’t based on any single person but rather were an amalgamation of a number of people I’ve come across as well as people I’ve invented!
So I would say, especially for beginner writers, to write about something you know well, just purely because it will make the characters authentic. This doesn’t mean that you can’t set your book in far-off and wonderful places, but knowing the people and grounding your characters in what you know will help you create people who seem real.
As a journalist, screen, writer, and playwright, you wear a lot of different creative hats, which I love! Do you have any personal creative philosophies or practices that have helped you in your work as a writer and in general?
I love to write, and that basically sets the groundwork for what I do. I decided that I wanted to make a living writing, and for me, that meant I had to extend myself in a number of mediums, but each one of those mediums has taught me something about writing itself and made me a better writer as a result.
Writing for radio, for example, gave me a real appreciation of how sound plays into your writing and the impact it can have, not just for audio works but for theatre and even prose. I also say to keep an open mind and always be willing to learn.
For every medium I write, I learn something new, which ultimately makes me better at my craft – so I can keep doing what I love for a living.
I’d love to learn more about your journey to publication and any key lessons you’ve learned from finishing your novel to getting it published?
My journey to publication was a long one, and honestly, I was close to giving up on my dream of having a novel published many times.
So I suppose my key lesson is persistence and perseverance. If this is something you really want to do, then you have to keep at it. A lot of the writing business is about timing – and that is something that’s beyond our control.
Instead, focus on what you can control, and that is your writing. Keep writing and keep trying because being a creative is hard, but ultimately we do it for the love of our craft.
Who are some of the key authors and writers that you’ve been influenced by - whose work is dominating your bookshelves that you think we should be exploring?
A lot of literary South Asian fiction inspired me on my journey to becoming a writer. So authors such as Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Michael Ondaatje, Kamila Shamsie, and Monica Ali formed the backbone of the sort of works I read.
But now I’m veering more towards commercial women’s fiction, mostly because I have three kids and I am reading books I can put down and pick up multiple times, as my reading time is often interrupted. I’m enjoying books by Taylor Jenkins-Reid and Helen Hoang, who are great examples of writing fiction that’s accessible to many people but also brings up deeper topics (but with a lighter touch).
And lastly, could you share anything about what you’re working on next or any upcoming book readings readers can find you at soon?
I haven’t decided what my next book is going to be – but I will keep you posted.
Saman Shad is a writer, editor, journalist, and teller of stories. Her writing credits span mediums, including radio scriptwriting for the BBC in the UK and the ABC in Australia, and playwriting, with works commissioned by theatres in London and Sydney. She is a regular writer for several publications, including The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, and SBS. She has also worked on screen projects. Her debut novel The Matchmaker is out now published through Penguin Australia.
Twitter @muminprogress
Instagram @saman_shad
Website: samanshad.com
Elaine Chennatt is a writer, educator and psychology student currently residing in nipaluna. She has a special interest in bibliotherapy (how we use literature to make sense of our lives) and is endlessly curious about the creative philosophies of others. She lives with her husband and two bossy dachshunds on the not-so-sunny side of the river (IYKYK). Find her online at wordswithelaine.com
