Video transcript
2019 NSW PRC author interview – Rafeif Ismail

TAMARA RODGERS: Hi. I'm 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. We're backstage at Riverside Theatre today for All Day YA. We're joined by Rafeif Ismail. How are you?

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Hi. How are you?

TAMARA RODGERS: I'm good. So over from Perth for the Sydney Writers' Festival.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Yeah. I'm really excited.

TAMARA RODGERS: And this is your first Sydney Writers' Festival then. Since it's usually so far away, you don't get to come over all that often.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Yeah, yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: And so you're doing panels here at All Day YA. How's it feel to get to talk about your work when, as a writer, usually your life's a little bit more solitary, sitting behind a computer typing?

RAFEIF ISMAIL: It's absolutely incredible. The people I've been meeting throughout the day have been amazing. And just getting to meet people, knowing these connections exist, it's just absolutely fantastic. Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah. Because and stories do a really amazing job at connecting people. When you were growing up, what were the stories that really kind of grabbed you? What were you reading when you were a kid?

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Well, I've always been a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy and what is now termed speculative fiction. So that's what I usually read as a kid and I absolutely loved. And that sort of influenced what I write because I love writing speculative fiction.

And mainly because, in speculative fiction and science fiction, there's room for our own voices, writers, to grow. And there's room for writers of colour to explore so many facets of identity and life without the rigid structure of other fiction genres.

TAMARA RODGERS: And that idea about authentic and diverse voices is something that you're really passionate about in your own writing, but also in the fiction world in general.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Absolutely. I think that diverse voices are so important. We need writing that reflects reality as it truly is, not as how it's perceived to be. And there is a danger in writing a single type of story, a certain type of story, or portraying groups in certain ways.

And storytelling makes us who we are. It changes how we interact with the world, how we perceive the people around us. So writing own-voices stories, own-voices stories are paramount to kind of shaping a more equitable world, I guess. Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah. And so one of the things that is really exciting me about YA at the moment is that we're seeing a lot more books coming out that are anthologies of a huge range of voices. And you're featured in a couple of them that we've got here--

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: --the 'Growing up African in Australia,' which is very much a collection of lots of different voices and different ideas. How was it to be-- were you approached to be a part of that? Or what was the process of being included in these anthologies?

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Both anthologies are incredible. So 'Growing up African in Australia' is Australia's first nonfiction and African anthology. And that's absolutely groundbreaking. And the fact that it exists and we have works from people from all walks of life available right now is absolutely amazing. 'Meet Me the Intersection' by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Rebecca Lim was a fiction anthology that is groundbreaking as well.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: I'm just going to use that word a lot. Because it is--

TAMARA RODGERS: Well, it's an appropriate word, yeah.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Yeah. And I feel so honoured as an emerging writer to be included in both anthologies. I didn't even expect it. But it's amazing.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: And now all I can do is make sure that I create space for other emerging writers from marginalised backgrounds as well.

TAMARA RODGERS: Nice. So in your intro to-- the little intro into your story in 'Meet Me at the Intersection,' you mentioned that you really want to focus on the idea that there's no one way to be anything. There's no one way to be African. There's no one way to be, to be queer, or to be any of these kinds of labels that people apply to us.

And I think that that, for me, that was what I found really compelling about 'Growing up African in Australia.' We see so many ideas about what it means to be African, but the fact that there's such diversity in that. How has your African heritage influenced what it is that you-- what you choose to write about? Because both of these stories have really strong links to family. So how does your family and your heritage influence what you write?

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Well, I write what I know. And even when I'm writing speculative fiction, I write speculative fiction drawing on the mythologies of my home country. So I write about North Sudanese mythologies. And I try to incorporate that into my writing.

When I write, I code-switch between Arabic and English. And Sudanese Arabic, usually, is what I code-switch to. And that is something that I will continue doing and I'm very proud of doing. Because growing up, I never saw books that represented people who existed on the same axes of identities as I did. So to be able to do this has been a privilege, but it's also a responsibility and one that I'm taking really, really seriously.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah, you talk a little bit about that responsibility of being a mentor, being someone who stands as a role model for other people, a little bit in your story 'Meet Me at the Intersection,' where you talk about going back to the primary school, at the Intensive English Centre of primary school that you visited. Can you talk a little bit about what that kind of experience is like?

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Surreal.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Because, first of all, I didn't realise how old I was until I was in that room. But also, it was incredible to see how things have changed and things have also stayed the same, to realise that the issues that we faced when we were younger, like marginalising people faced when we were younger, are faced by young people now as well.

And some of them have changed and exactly what we need to do to make sure that they grow up in a more equitable, more just world. And yeah, so it was a really extraordinary experience actually. And it definitely made me reflect on who I was as a person, and my practise, and my age. Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: As a teacher, I completely understand the experience of feeling very old in a room surrounded by young people. You mentioned in the story that you asked the kids, as a way of connecting, what their favourite superhero is. So this is the really important question. Who is your favourite superhero?

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Oh, I have to choose?

TAMARA RODGERS: Yes. Well, or top three, maybe.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Marvel or DC?

TAMARA RODGERS: Well, so my favourite superhero is Wonder Woman. But I prefer the Marvel universe. So you can pick as many or as few as you like.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Ooh, so let's go with Marvel first.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: It would be Shuri from 'Black Panther.'

TAMARA RODGERS: Nice.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Because she's absolutely incredible.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yeah.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Lunella Lafayette, also Marvel, and Kamala Khan, and then we'd get into Danielle Cage, which becomes Captain America.

TAMARA RODGERS: Yes.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: So I could go on forever. I learned English reading comic books.

TAMARA RODGERS: It could become a very long interview. Yes.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: And that's really interesting. So I used to work in a school with an Intensive English Centre-- and that idea that comic books can be a way of connecting and empowering people but also helping them to develop a familiarity with the language. So as well as reading comic books, what were some of the other kinds of books that you read when you were a kid?

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Well, when I was younger, I read a lot in Arabic. But then when I came to Australia, English was not my first language, so having to go to an Intensive English Centre. And back then, it was encouraged that you don't speak your first language so that you can learn English faster, which has proven untrue.

So I started out reading a lot of fantasy novels, like 'Harry Potter,' and the 'Alex Rider' series, 'Cherub--' god, so many. Tamora Pierce, I read all of Tamora Pierce's works. And then I went back to the classics because I just wanted to understand.

So I went back to 'The Odyssey,' 'The Iliad,' 'The Aeneid,' those sort of classics. Because I'd read them in Arabic, but reading them in English was completely different. I read a lot of Shakespeare. I was very dramatic as a teenager--

TAMARA RODGERS: Well, most teenagers are very dramatic.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: --like the kind that would quote Hamlet when upset. So I-- yeah, I read a lot of Shakespeare. A lot of-- yeah. And I think my favourite book as a young person was 'Ash' by Malinda Lo. Because I had found it in the library, and it had a person of colour, a clear person of colour.

And it was a reimagined fairy tale. And it was just-- I borrowed that book out from the library eight times and just kept reading it. And I never got tired of it. And so all of her works are absolutely incredible, and I highly recommend them.

TAMARA RODGERS: Nice.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: And NK Jemisin is another amazing author who has changed my life with her writing. So--

TAMARA RODGERS: Nice.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: So what's next for you? What can we expect to see in either in a collection or in a standalone book coming from you?

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Well, I am working on a couple of projects, including a science fiction novel. And I'm trying to find my way into the 'Black Panther' movie universe.

TAMARA RODGERS: Excellent.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: So if anyone doing Marvel sees this, hi. Please.

TAMARA RODGERS: Well, you know, that kind of genre is fairly popular at the moment. We've just seen the 'DC Icons' series. There's a Marvel 'Loki' thing coming up--

RAFEIF ISMAIL: I'm very looking forward to that.

TAMARA RODGERS: --a little later in the year.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: If anyone's watching and you can hook up Rafeif--

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Yeah.

TAMARA RODGERS: --that would be amazing.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Yeah, please hook me up. Yes.

TAMARA RODGERS: Thank you so much for coming in and hanging out backstage with us today. I really enjoyed having a chat. We hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Sydney.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Thank you so much. It's my absolute pleasure.

TAMARA RODGERS: Oh, thank you. Bye.

RAFEIF ISMAIL: Bye.