The Saad Farooqi Interview | White World

Although an in person, recorded interview did take place in London, Ontario Between Saad and me, I effortlessly deleted the entire thing from my computer, my Zoom account, and existence. This interview is therefore made up entirely of Saad’s written reply.

Read Saad’s “Why I Wrote this Book” segment here!

Sarah: When did you start working on White World?

I started working on White World fifteen years ago during my MFA. In many ways, this novel is an aggregate of all the short stories I’ve written since I was a teenager. Almost everything I ever wrote involved a man searching for a missing lover in an oppressive city, drenched in rain or covered with snow. Looking back, I realize how these themes have always fascinated me. They perhaps reflect my own experiences as a Pakistani expat in the Middle East, dealing with cultural and religious displacement as well as dealing with Complex PTSD. These personal struggles have deeply influenced my writing, infusing it with a sense of longing and isolation that I think is foundational for all the characters in White World.

What was it like working with Cormorant Books?

I officially signed with Cormorant Books in 2019. I remember telling my wife that I thought I’d found the perfect team. Marc Côté is extremely sharp and has a great mind for both the micro and macro aspects of characterization, themes, and world building. The same goes for the entire team. Every bit of feedback I received was focused on improving the book. There were no egos; everyone was dedicated to working together, collaborating, and coordinating. I really couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to help me put the best version of White World out there.

Can you talk a bit about your experience marketing the book so far?

For most writers, it’s the criticism and negative feedback that they dread the most. For me, the real intimidation was the marketing and networking. I’m fairly introverted (would you believe it? An introverted writer?) so once it became clear that I had to do the legwork to get the book out there, I didn’t really know where to start. I had deleted Facebook, and what little social media I did use was mostly private or anonymous. So, I had to start from scratch – word of mouth, reaching out to other writers, social media, making my website, and creating a small video series that, I’m told, helped generate plenty of interest.

I was also very fortunate to have Cormorant Books behind me. They sent me to events like TIFA, Word on the Street, and a few others. Along the way, I met some amazing writers like Salma Hassan and Hollay Ghadery, who’ve been instrumental in helping me network with other writers and reviewers. And this applies to you too, by the way. Thank you so much!

Do you feel like there has been a lot of community engagement with the book? Any stand-out reviews or feedback?

The very first review I received was a very positive one from Mona Angeline, published in The T3mz Review. In a way, that set the tone for all the reviews that followed, as they’ve all been highly positive. The one that had everyone at Cormorant Books and my agent very excited was the starred review in Quill & Quire from Manahil Bandukwala. That review has become the standout one for me because Marc Côté personally congratulated me on it.

Are you reading any Canadian books now that you’d like to recommend?

Autonomy by Victoria Hetherington.

Do you get asked more questions about one specific character?

The response to Red has been phenomenal. This is the first time I have written from the POV of a transgender woman. I had to do a deep dive into the sub-culture of this community in Pakistan and South Asia in general. It was very important for me to get her voice and character arc right. That many, if not most, of the readers I’ve spoken to rank her as their favourite character, is something I’m really proud of.

What questions would you like to be asked about your characters more often?

The nature of the relationships between Avaan and Doua, and Avaan and Evergreen, evolves continuously throughout the book. By the end, I’ve deliberately kept their feelings for one another ambivalent.

Avaan and Doua’s relationship is my critique of the 7 Stages of Love in Arabic literature: attraction, connection, passion, devotion, worship, madness, and death. What begins as an idealized veneration on Avaan’s part ends with both of their flaws laid bare for the reader. Additionally, we see two different versions of Doua in the book: the Doua in Avaan’s POV and the real Doua.

With Avaan and Evergreen, it’s the exact opposite. While their animosity is deeply personal and pointed in the beginning, I explore their similarities and the trajectory of their lives to ask the reader if they really hate each other by the end of the book.

Did the story evolve as you were writing? Or, was this the story you wanted to tell from the start?

The story of Avaan going through a deadly city looking for Doua was always there from the beginning. Originally, however, the book was a lot more nihilistic and violent. In the first few drafts, all major characters were dead by the final chapter, and the city was completely overtaken by snow. Avaan and Evergreen were a lot more aggressive and remorseless, and Doua was more of a McGuffin than a POV character. The setting was also originally more ambiguous—it was always somewhere in Asia but never explicitly stated. For safety concerns, I kept it that way for the longest time.

In the end, I decided to be honest about the themes involving Pakistan. Once I settled on this, I scaled back the violence and nihilism. I believe nihilism doesn’t offer a real resolution to the ontological question. Yes, life is absurd and unfair, but that’s just the beginning of the human condition. To quote the criminally underrated TV show Angel, “If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.”

The book feels like it could be a film or graphic novel, with the chapters being called “episodes” and the level of scene detail. Did you think maybe this was going to be a screenplay at any point?

Yes! I’ve always been a big believer in telling a story across multiple mediums. Especially visual mediums.

By the time I finished the first chapter, I had already envisioned White World to become a TV show. The reason I called the chapters “episodes” is to reinforce the idea that the reader is reading and watching the story. The graphic novel comparison is also apt because that is something I also want to do: to retell the story in a graphic novel format.

Fun fact: I also want to turn White World into a video game and have been planning and noting down ideas on how to “gamify” parts of the book, including main quests, side quests, the narrative style, and the gameplay itself. Some readers have compared the book to The Last of Us and Max Payne, which is incredibly high praise for me since those are some of my favorite video games because of the visceral storytelling and compelling characters.

Born in Saudi Arabia, Saad T. Farooqi moved to Pakistan before his first birthday. There, he survived three separate kidnapping attempts before he was eight. His family eventually settled in the United Arab Emirates. After initially enrolling in electrical engineering to please his parents, Saad graduated with a BA in English Literature from the American University of Sharjah. He then earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Kingston University, London. Saad immigrated to Canada in 2015 and resides in London, Ontario. At Kingston University, he studied under several notable authors, including Rachel Cusk and Elif Safak. His short stories and poems have appeared in various magazines in the US, UK, and UAE.

Publisher: Cormorant Books (September 28, 2024)
Paperback 8″ x 6″ | 320 pages
ISBN: 9781770867451

Sarah Marie

Sarah Marie is a perfectly unqualified, no-talent, lit/poetry enthusiast.A~literal nobody~ on social media, you may recognize her from commenting on your posts as if you sent them to her personally. She isvery impressedby your dedication to your work and to each other, and she believes in you.

Sarah Marie

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