Currently working on her fifth novel, Jayanthi Sankar has been a part of several international panels of literary festivals, including the APWT 2018 at the Gold Coast, Singapore Writers Festival, Asean-India Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Writers Festival.
Her recent novel, When WillYou Die?explores the human psyche. Tabula Rasawas a 2022 NYC Big Book Award ‘Distinguished Favourite’ in the category of Historical Fiction and an ‘honourable mention’ in San Francisco book fest award 2022.
She works full time interpreting English, Hindi and Tamil with the MOM. Misplaced Heads was on the Eyelands Book Awards 2020 final list of historical fiction in Greece, making its mark as outstanding postmodern historical fiction.
She lives in Singapore since 1990. The winner in fiction: short story in 2020 International Book Award -American book fest Dangling Gandhi also won the international The Literary Titan award.
In an interview with Prof Shiv Sethi she spoke about her journey as an author and her future plans. Here are the excerpts.
Shiv Sethi: What prompted you into fiction writing?
Jayanthi Sankar: Years of passionate reading brought me to writing, and various attempts at knowing more of the inner worlds of human beings have kept me going for decades. Interestingly, even today, many elders in my extended family don’t believe I write.
Shiv Sethi: When was the first time you wrote something and what was it?
Jayanthi Sankar: During the mid-90s, while trying to find out how difficult it was to write I ended up crafting ‘Turning Point’, a short story based on an early morning dream, which got published in print but it took me years and several more short stories before I believed I could really pursue writing.
Shiv Sethi: When a new idea jumps out of you while you’re still working on a book, do you chase the squirrel or finish your work in hand first?
Jayanthi Sankar: I evaluate the idea and its scope and expanse and park it in my folder with a few words to a short para as notes. My WIP will have to come to an end before I can even revisit the listed ideas.
Shiv Sethi: Do you have any odd writing habits?
Jayanthi Sankar: Sometimes, with my mind map I write my chapters randomly instead of chronologically like most novelists do. This gives me a sense of breaking the monotony that sets in my daily routine and a fresher scope for creativity.
Shiv Sethi: What have you found to be the most enjoyable and challenging about fiction writing?
Jayanthi Sankar: Getting to live lives I can never live, to imagine being characters I can never be in reality. This is why fiction remains my genre, both in reading and writing.
Shiv Sethi: Do you identify with your main character or create one that is the opposite?
Jayanthi Sankar: I love creating characters, regardless of whether I like or dislike them. They don’t resemble me any bit, as they are the exact opposite of me. I don’t relive my life, but naturally live my characters that don’t have any of my traits. And that’s precisely why many of my readers are often puzzled by my varied characters. And my fiction reflects more of Singapore and her people as I’ve lived here for three and a half decades.
Shiv Sethi: Then, what do you think of readers who habitually search for the writer in her writings?
Jayanthi Sankar: A reader matures only when she shuns the habit, which is the result of shallow or preconceived reading. An author like me writing for 28 years, can’t possibly manifest everywhere in her fiction, can she?
Shiv Sethi: If you could spend a day with another popular author, who would you choose?
Jayanthi Sankar: Haruki Murakami or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or Khalid Hosseini.
Shiv Sethi: What is your goal when you start writing a new book?
Jayanthi Sankar: I must be happy with my process and the result – not so easy, but I contentiously strive for rewriting.
Shiv Sethi: How do you handle self-doubt during progress?
Jayanthi Sankar: I’ve trashed dozens of drafts without any hesitation and at least a dozen old folders are still untouched in my drive as I throw away ideas and texts whenever I sense I wouldn’t be able to handle. For example, I refrain from exploring certain complicated psychological issues. And, from my experience, a clock-based or regimental work pattern can be heinous to any kind of creativity. So, when I start thinking as another character of fiction, pushing the protagonist behind, things get clearer for me, and short respites from my drafts can also rejuvenate my exhausted mind.
Shiv Sethi: What comes first for you, the plot or the characters, and why?
Jayanthi Sankar: That depends on the theme or the subject that brews in me, like it is for most literary fiction writers. Misplaced Heads was more plot-driven whereas Tabula Rasawas nearly character-driven. The former had a grand backdrop, hence a strong protagonist and main characters and the latter had diverse characters that inhabited the naturally unfolding world. Certain characters of Tabula Rasa led me to create my recent socio-psychological novella, which in turn inspired me to create my WIP.
Shiv Sethi: In that context, how do you come up with your titles?
Jayanthi Sankar: Although I do get other titles as I move forward, I mostly retain the first one I think of. It would either be the nucleus of the chosen theme or a subtle abstract streak to represent the larger perspective I wish to send across.
Shiv Sethi: What are your readers’ take away from your work?
Jayanthi Sankar: My readers’ experience of fresh insights that set them to ponder deeper, bringing fulfilment to me. Once in print, I love to watch them enter the world I created, to experience, infer, debate and lift it up through their profound participative reading.
Shiv Sethi: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Jayanthi Sankar: Painting and tree bathing are what I love to do if I have the luxury of time. I also revisit the lists of sparks I normally maintain, or edit my previous raw drafts. Books to be read also wait for my attention.
Shiv Sethi: At what point do you think someone should call themselves a writer?
Jayanthi Sankar: I don’t know about others, but I’ve always felt I’m a WIP human being. Likewise, I’d be a writer in the making, till my last.
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