On a Wednesday like any other Wednesday, I found myself tiredly counting down the hours until I would be home and cuddling with my laptop and Pepsi.

But prior to the cacophony of my abnormal (ahem) mid-week behaviour, I spent time in the company of the lovely and talented Farzana Doctor, author of Stealing Nazreen - a novel about one Indo-Canadian lesbian psychologist in Toronto who finds herself in a love triangle with a newly immigrated couple from Mumbai. In coordination with Self Love Week, Doctor spent the day running workshops and then giving a reading in the ever-cozy Traill senior common room.

On a Wednesday like any other Wednesday, I found myself tiredly counting down the hours until I would be home and cuddling with my laptop and Pepsi.

But prior to the cacophony of my abnormal (ahem) mid-week behaviour, I spent time in the company of the lovely and talented Farzana Doctor, author of Stealing Nazreen - a novel about one Indo-Canadian lesbian psychologist in Toronto who finds herself in a love triangle with a newly immigrated couple from Mumbai. In coordination with Self Love Week, Doctor spent the day running workshops and then giving a reading in the ever-cozy Traill senior common room.

Doctor (a Toronto-based author and social worker) and her novel have received critical acclaim from Globe and Mail, Quill and Quire, and NOW Magazine, and is currently working on her second novel.

Like the ten or so students present, I had the pleasure of hearing Doctor read several passages from her first novel. Scattered around her, we all leaned in to make sure we didn’t miss a drop of Doctor’s playful wit, woven through the raw veracity that lines the faces of her characters, as they spilled out before us.

But unlike the rest of the attendees, I later got to have a one-on-one conversation with Doctor about her writing, her experiences, and her thoughts on trendy LA lipstick lesbians.

Arthur: So...Stealing Nazreen is your first novel. How long have you been writing?

Farzana Doctor (FD): I’ve been writing since I was a kid. Only in the last ten years did I really start writing often. And only in the last eight years have I had a more regular writing process.

Arthur: Have you only been writing fiction?

FD: I’ve written in a variety of mediums actually. I’ve written poetry (though more often when I was younger). Over the years I’ve also written a lot of non-fiction and creative non-fiction, such as various articles and book chapters, particularly centered on issues around counseling.

Arthur: Who are some of your artistic influences?

FD: I read a lot as a way to nurture my writing and will read almost anything! But I really appreciate Sadie Smith, Barbara Gowdy, MG Vassanji, and Elizabeth Ruth.

Arthur: Ooh. Good line up. Personally, I’ve really enjoyed your novel. I found your references to urban lesbian culture intriguing. What has your experience with the queer community, more specifically Toronto, been like?

FD: I came out in 1992, and moved to Toronto in 1993. Most of my experience has been in the Toronto queer community. I became involved with several South Asian queer groups, which was a big part of my experience, particularly queer-Muslim organizing, although I was involved with much mainstream organizing as well. I worked as a counselor for street youth and started managing Rainbow Service - a queer specific addiction program. Also, much of my work focus has been queer - three-fourths of my clients [as a therapist] are queer/trans.

As result, I have had varied experiences with the queer community. I’ve encountered many opportunities to learn, but I’ve also faced problems in my encounters with mainstream queer culture, as it is still oppressive. But I have found niches within queer communities where I feel comfortable.

Arthur: I know what you mean. I find myself drawn to queer disability activism - particularly surrounding sex, sexuality and agency. I enjoy the company of people who share similar identity experiences. Tell me, what was it like for you to come out?

FD: Well like I said, I came out in ‘92. My experience with my family was good, although initially there was some discomfort. In terms of my extended family, I’m out to everyone and no one is overtly negative. I take opportunities to talk a lot about issues I face by being queer. This helps, because for lots of people, the only exposure they have is through their queer ‘cousin’. So the more you’re able to speak up in a natural way, the more you’re increasing their level of exposure.

Let me give you an example. I recently had huge family reunion. My family loves to talk about marriage and kids. So we ended up having a large conversation about family history - specifically when everyone got married and met their partners. Eventually it came to me and I told my story. Several relatives seemed surprised after I spoke, “Oh you’ve been with your partner for 8 years?  Really?”

The whole “Wow, I’ve been with my partner a much shorter time. I guess you guys really can have successful relationships”… haha.

Arthur: Wait...really? Eight years? Then there’s hope for me? And here I was scouring Ebay for a cure. Although speaking of stereotypes...the L Word; the dubious face of couture lesbo culture. So...do you despise the show publically but secretly meet with your three besties every week to see what drama and debauchery the lovely cast of plastic urbanites have for us?

FD: Well, I get quite hooked on soap operas, actually. So I do watch the L Word. And I can appreciate facets of the show. In the first season, there were some moments I appreciated. Some representations come close to things I have experienced. I enjoy watching it; however I do have a lot of criticisms.

Mainstream culture seems to only want to commodify us. That is, those who fit a particular representation - white, thin, rarely gender non-conforming. Not poor people. Not people with disabilities. It is merely a tiny start for us to have the L Word. But this happens on TV in general. It’s been a long time since there has been working class representation. Pop culture isn’t very interested in people in the margins.

Arthur: You’re very right. Well, unless the benevolent cast of the O.C. decides to volunteer at a shelter, or adopt a crippled kid. On the note of margins, your book deals with an intersectional queer identity. Is the portrayal of intersectional identities important to you?

FD: It seemed important to me because I live that reality. I wanted to see characters that represent that. I live within communities that represent those identities as well. This is reality to me. The characters represent things that I and my friends have and do experience.

Arthur: And I think that reality is conveyed in your writing. You ran two workshops dealing with identity when you visited Trent. Specifically about writing in the margins. How did they go?

FD: Very well, actually. We looked at our inner critic as a barrier to writing. Some of what we tell ourselves can be linked to the oppression we experience(d). We also did a writing exercise about our own communities. There is a risk in feeling pressured to represent communities if you’re writing about them (ie. ‘if you’re gonna write about South Asians, well they’re like this and this’). Therefore writing about people and their problems becomes a matter of airing dirty laundry in public - the assumption is that your writing is autobiographical (because you are writing about your own community).

But at the same time you’re giving voice to experiences that don’t get a lot of space. This means education; an opportunity to speak with authenticity. It’s during the final editing process that I will examine the politics of what I have written (which is always implicit in my writing). People bleed out in their subconscious.

Sadly it can be hard to find a publisher when writing from the margins, because the scarcity breeds the assumption that ‘it won’t sell’.  But there has to be room.

Arthur: Do you have any advice for those of us writers who are desperately trying to find room?

FD: Have faith that what you have to say is important; that your voice is important. Even if you’re not seeing a lot of stories like what you’re writing. It also good to have a group of people supporting you who understand what you’re trying to write about. It helps to hear it from other people, because you need to have faith that what you’re writing is important.

Arthur: Well thank you, Farzana. It was a pleasure meeting you. Any last words for our readers?

FD: I would just like to say that it was a real pleasure to be invited to speak at Trent. There is a stereotype that Trent students are all creative and political. It’s definitely true.

Jes Sachse