Shyam Selvadurai on writing diverse fiction that's true to life

Why I Write: Shyam Selvadurai

6 years ago

Duration 2:33

In this CBC Books video series, author Shyam Selvadurai speaks about the need for authentic and diverse perspectives in Canadian literature.

Shyam Selvadurai is a Toronto-based novelist who has published workin many countries and whose writing has been translated into eight different languages.He is theaward-winning author ofFunny Boy, a dramatic novel set in the 1980sthatis being adapted to film by director and screenwriterDeepa Mehta. His2013 novelThe Hungry Ghostsis anunconventional exploration of race, sexuality andthe diasporic experience in Canada.

• Shyam Selvadurai and Deepa Mehta adapting the novel Funny Boy for the big screen

When it comes to writing fiction,Selvadurainotes Canadian writers should focus on the authenticity of voice and perspective when it comes to building compelling and diverse characters.

• Shyam Selvadurai on childhoodmemory, Buddha and answering your own questions

WritingtheCanadian immigrant experience

"Mymindset at the time I was writing The Hungry Ghosts is I wanted to write about what it was like for me growing up South Asian in Scarborough, Ont., which is now a suburb of Toronto. That's where my family lived and I'd never seen this diverseexperience in Canadian literature before.

"Today, there's now aburgeoning Toronto movement that reflects diversity, particularly with works like David Chariandy's novel Brother,Carrianne Leung's novel That Time I Loved Youand Kerri Sakamoto's Floating City.But when I was writing The Hungry Ghosts, that type of Canadian fiction didn't exist. I had to invent it from scratch."

• How David Chariandy brought his novel Brother to life
• How Carrianne Leung drew on her Scarborough roots to tackle sensitive subjects
• How Kerri Sakamoto connected Canada's past with personal heritage to tell a futuristic fantasy tale

I wanted to affirm the lives of people like myself which were missing from fiction, Canadian fiction in particular.

Reality,reflected

"I've just never really been too bothered by being boxed in a particular category, being a gay, Canadianwriter with South Asian and Sri Lankan heritage. My work transcends its boxes and I feel Canadians seek out diverse fiction with a sense of personal engagement. As a writer,I wanted to affirm the lives of people like myself which were missing from fiction and Canadian fiction in particular."

Authentic, diasporicliterature

"Idon't think of my writing as immigrant literature. It'sdiasporic literature. I wanted to write about it was like for my generationas a Canadian of South Asian descent.And the term immigrant always seems to imply a kind of severing of home in an old-fashioned way. That just doesn't happen anymore."

CBC Books'sWhy I Write series features authors speaking on what literature means to them. Shot on location at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre during the 2018 Canadian Writers' Summit. See episode one with author Catherine Hernandez.

ShyamSelvadurai's comments have been edited for length and clarity.