Exciting news! My first novel, Biryani and Tahchin, is now available in Pakistan, published by Reverie publishers.
Fun fact: It was called ‘New Places’ until one of my university professors in Iran suggested B&T, and I loved it instantly.
Fun fact #2: I started writing B&T about three years ago. It took me 5 months to plan and research this book and 4 weeks to actually write it. But it took over 2 years to edit, to get feedback, to edit again, and then to find it a good home.
Most of the book’s setting is Tehran, and the city of Damavand plays a role as well. I’ll be showing you many of the locations featured in this book in another video!
Behind the scenes of Biryani and Tahchin.
I have been reading fiction since I was a little girl. At seven years old, I was meeting Enid Blyton’s pixies and goblins and elves. I escaped into worlds that were not mine, and it didn’t matter so much that I had never seen a goblin because nobody had.
But realist fiction is different. Even when it is fantasy – I identified with Harry Potter not because he could do magic but because growing up and making friends and doing the right thing is hard whether you’re a twelve year old boy wizard or brown teenage girl growing up in the Middle East.
As I grew older I realized there was this gap between me and the lives I read about. The gap was made up of the language I spoke, the food I ate, the things I believed in. The color of my skin. I was too young to know what it was called then, but I felt unrepresented.
Little boys and girls all over the world deserve to read about characters with names they have heard of, with body types and hair texture like theirs, who negotiate through a culture they recognize. It makes them feel like they belong, like they are not alone. It validates them.
Because this is what I think fiction should be about: bringing us together and reminding us of how deep down we are the same in all the ways that really matter.
Even for those who did not grow up as minorities, I wanted this book to describe experiences they don’t get to read about often. I wanted it to contribute in a small way to literature that represents. Biryani and Tahchin was inspired by my years in Iran, whose places I felt a connection to, and her people.
Written by : raaziasajid
raazia is looking for beta readers
are you interested in reading advance copies of raazia’s work and giving feedback? let her know!