The Weekly talks with Sahar Delijani, author of Children of the Jacaranda Tree.
What was the inspiration for Children of the Jacaranda Tree?
The novel was inspired by my family’s experience as political prisoners in Iran in the 1980s. From my own birth in prison in 1983 to my uncle’s execution in the mass executions of 1988, each was a story that had remained untold for so long and needed to be told.
What research did you need to do and how did you go about this?
I mostly asked my parents about their experience in prison when I was writing the first half of the novel which is set in the 1980s in Iran. I also did some research through history books and online resources for more historical and documented information regarding that period. For the second half of the novel, which is set during and after the 2009 anti-government protests in Iran, I followed all the news that I could get from inside Iran through direct conversations with my friends and information that was posted on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter and of course the news on international news channels, journals and newspapers.
Talk us through a typical day when you are in the middle of writing a novel.
I wake up around 8/8.30, have breakfast, check my email, read the news, and then I begin to write, which could involve either actually writing something new, or rewriting what I wrote the day before, or reading from a favorite book for inspiration, or simply staring at the screen of my computer, thinking. I stop working around lunch time. Around 3 pm, I start working again until around 6/7 pm. The rest of the evening is free to spend some time with my husband. We have dinner, most nights watch a film before retiring.
What do you do to celebrate finishing a book?
I like celebrating alone with my husband. He cooks me a special dinner. We open a bottle of wine, have some music in the background, and smile happily to each other.
What comes first when planning a novel, the characters, the plot or the setting?
The plot. Not so much of the entire novel, but a chapter at a time.
What’s next on the agenda?
My second novel.
Three top tips for aspiring writers?
Read. Nothing can teach you how to write better than reading from the great authors of our time.
Revise. Every sentence has to be re-written. There is always a better way of saying something.
Persist and work hard, for as Pablo Picasso says, “Inspiration exists but it has to find you working.”
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