Video transcript
2019 NSW PRC author interview – Omar Sakr

TAMARA RODGERS: Hi. I'm Tamara Rodgers from the Premier's Reading Challenge. We're here at Riverside Theatre Parramatta for the Sydney Writers' Festival, All Day YA, a celebration of everything that's amazing about YA literature. We've been joined by some fantastic Australian and overseas authors. We're really excited to bring you these chats.

We'd really like to thank the Sydney Writers' Festival for having us along, and also thank our programme sponsors, our media partner, News Local, and our supporting partner, Dymock's Children's Charities. Thank you so much for your support.

Hi. I'm Tamara Rodgers. We're here at Riverside Theatre for All Day YA with poet Omar Sakr, the lovely Omar Sakr. How are you doing?

OMAR SAKR: I'm well. How are you?

TAMARA RODGERS: I'm good. And so this is your first All Day YA for Sydney Writers' Festival.

OMAR SAKR: It is.

TAMARA RODGERS: And book launch was in the first session this morning. How did that go?

OMAR SAKR: Yeah, it went really well. I have a short story in 'Kindred-- 12 Queer YA Stories.' So I also have an essay in another anthology, which is 'Meet Me at the Intersection.' So yeah, I think it's kind of the first time that I'm speaking directly to these younger audiences in prose, which is pretty exciting.

TAMARA RODGERS: Because your background is poetry. Right?

OMAR SAKR: Yes, yes.

TAMARA RODGERS: That's what most people who are familiar with you all know. So how is that different writing poetry to writing prose?

OMAR SAKR: Well, people seem to be more willing to approach prose than they are poetry. And I think that partly why that is is that there's a lot more explanation going on in short stories and in essays. And people are afraid to construct their own meaning from poems. Do you know what I mean?

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

OMAR SAKR: They feel like there's a secret. It's a puzzle. They've got to figure it out, or otherwise--

TAMARA RODGERS: They have to go digging to find a bit more information. It feels like some kind of mystical, magical secret--

OMAR SAKR: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: --whereas it's a bit more there.

OMAR SAKR: Right. But so I try to write poetry that's very accessible. I mean, I grew up in a poor family. I grew up in Western Sydney. I went to public schools.

And I also had that feeling that poetry was not for me or literature was not for me, which is nonsense. You know what I mean? There's been-- there's a long history of writers from poor backgrounds, from the so-called margins, who have created literature that speaks directly to their communities and their experiences.

And I'm just the kind of latest iteration of that. You know? So I'm very mindful of what I'm saying and how I'm saying it. So you can read my poetry, I hope, just as easily as you can read an essay or a short story.

TAMARA RODGERS: And sometimes almost easier just because of the--

OMAR SAKR: It's shorter.

TAMARA RODGERS: Exactly.

OMAR SAKR: You know what I mean? It's a page, mostly, or two.

TAMARA RODGERS: When you can whip through a poem in like three and a half minutes and you're done, whereas reading a novel is a commitment.

OMAR SAKR: It is. It is.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

OMAR SAKR: Definitely read my poetry. That's what I'm saying here. [laughs]

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah, it's a good message. So when you were growing up in Western Sydney, not too far from where we're sitting now--

OMAR SAKR: That's right.

TAMARA RODGERS: --what were the kinds of things that-- what were the kinds of stories that connected with you? Did you read a lot as a kid?

OMAR SAKR: Yeah, well, I mean, you're wearing a Ravenclaw badge.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yes.

OMAR SAKR: And 'Harry Potter' was like, that was my generation. I was reading that in primary school.

TAMARA RODGERS: Nice.

OMAR SAKR: Year four, I remember it very clearly.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

OMAR SAKR: I remember having the book in my hand at the back oval when we usually played footy in the morning. It was the first time that I'd started reading and being so engrossed in it.

And I remember my friends being like, what the hell are you doing? We're playing footy here. You're like-- and I was more interested in the book. So it marked a clear kind of breakaway from my normal pattern of behaviour.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

OMAR SAKR: I loved those books. And they opened a door for me.

TAMARA RODGERS: So the important question is, what house are you?

OMAR SAKR: Well, look. I did the test on the Pottermore website.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

OMAR SAKR: It told me Ravenclaw, but I disagree. So-- [laughs]

TAMARA RODGERS: So my daughter did the Pottermore test, and it told her Slytherin.

OMAR SAKR: Oh.

TAMARA RODGERS: She was not-- this was before being Slytherin was kind of cool and acceptable.

OMAR SAKR: My mum is a Slytherin.

TAMARA RODGERS: But she was like--

OMAR SAKR: She's very excited about it.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yes, well, so she did the test a few more times to try and hack it.

OMAR SAKR: Oh. [laughs]

TAMARA RODGERS: I said, well, perhaps that's a good indication that you really are a Slytherin. So just embrace your Slytherin roots now, which I think is pretty good. Because I think one of the things that I really love about 'Harry Potter' is that idea that it takes all different kinds of people. We need everyone from all different houses.

OMAR SAKR: Yeah, yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: And that's something that I think really comes through in your work too, this representation of a world that's not just about one kind of people, one kind of experience. How important is it to you to see people who reflect your experiences in the work that you read or you write?

OMAR SAKR: In what I'm reading, look, I think it's definitely important to have mirrors in literature where you can see some part of yourself, or your culture, or even your interest reflected back at you. But the thing about mirrors-- and I don't know how many mirrors you've been in front of. Maybe it's my vanity speaking But I feel like--

TAMARA RODGERS: We're sitting in a room full of mirrors.

OMAR SAKR: --every time I look in a mirror, I'm seeing a different image.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah, yeah.

OMAR SAKR: Right? So I'm also aware that they're always constructions. Right?

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

OMAR SAKR: There is there's no such thing for me as a one authentic kind of representation. Right?

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

OMAR SAKR: It's more important to me that we have a divergence and a gathering of voices, even on the one issue, even from the one community. And I didn't really have that growing up. But I also think it's important for me as a reader to seek out differences, not only what's familiar.

And I think it's starting to happen a bit more. And there is just-- there's so many voices from so many communities now who are just starting to get on the page and in the mainstream.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

OMAR SAKR: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: And I think that's one of the really great things about the emergence of a whole lot of different kinds of anthologies, particularly for young people now. Breaking into publishing to get a full novel published--

OMAR SAKR: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: --is difficult. But to be able to have your story included as a collection of other voices in things like 'Meet Me at the Intersection--'

OMAR SAKR: For sure.

TAMARA RODGERS: --and 'Kindred,' 'Underdog,' which came out recently. And there's some really great collections of a diverse range of voices.

OMAR SAKR: Yeah. And there's a new anthology, 'Growing up African in Australia.'

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

OMAR SAKR: There's one coming out that's growing up Arab-Australian, other and Australian. So these kinds of books, I think, are really important, not only as milestones but as introductions to this new wave of writers who are just getting started.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah, and that's one of the things that I've really loved about exploring these anthologies. I read a lot. But I've read stuff and gone, oh, that person, like their voice, their story, the way they've conveyed their message is really interesting. I want to see what they do next.

OMAR SAKR: Yes.

TAMARA RODGERS: So it's a really good taster. So you write poetry. You've written a couple of shorter fictions. Have you been interested in writing anything longer? Or does that just seem like too much hard work?

OMAR SAKR: I think if I was really financially set, maybe I would just write poetry, because it is my love. And I think it transformed my world, and I'm invested in that idea of transformation and in being able to provide that for others. And I can do it most readily with poetry.

But unfortunately, I am not that financially secure. And there is not only-- it's not only a financial thing. But there's more readers in novels. And I certainly, like I said, I didn't get into reading through poetry. I got into it through 'Harry Potter.' I got into it through fantasy and through young adult writing.

So that's always been a love of mine. And yeah, I would absolutely be thrilled to create a world that young readers felt excited by and could use as a gateway into literature.

TAMARA RODGERS: So when you're writing, what's your process like compared to, say, writing, say, prose to writing poetry? Do you find there's a difference in the way that you work?

OMAR SAKR: Yeah, sure. I enjoy writing poetry, and everything else is more of a struggle. Is there a process? No, not really. I sit down, and I write.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

OMAR SAKR: That's how it works.

TAMARA RODGERS: As simple and as difficult as that.

OMAR SAKR: Yeah, that's right.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah, yeah. So we've got a-- hopefully, we have a lot of students sitting at school or at home watching these videos who maybe have a story that they want to tell. Or they kind of think, maybe I could write something, but they don't know how to start. If you had to give maybe just one or two pieces of advice to just someone who wants their voice to be heard, what would you say to them?

OMAR SAKR: As much as representation matters, no one can speak to your specific world better than you. And so, yeah, I think it's absolutely important for anyone with the inclination to tell their story, whatever it may be, whether it is in direct reflection of your life or whether it's an imagination you've had, a nightmare you've had.

How to get started, for me, it's like I just think about what is hurting me at the moment or what is providing me with a sense of joy. What emotionally is moving me in the moment? And from there, the resonances, I think, lead to the kind of literature that I end up making.

TAMARA RODGERS: Nice. So it's really just about recognising the importance of all of the stories--

OMAR SAKR: Yes.

TAMARA RODGERS: --that make up the world we live in. I think it's a really great place to end. Thank you so much for joining us backstage today.

OMAR SAKR: Oh, thanks for having me here.

TAMARA RODGERS: My pleasure. Enjoy the rest of your festival.

OMAR SAKR: I will.

TAMARA RODGERS: Thanks, everyone.