On the 7th of March, I attended an interview with author Saima Mir about her latest book, The Khan. This new book is about a Northern lawyer returning home from London to deal with the fallout of her father’s murder, who was head of the local organised crime syndicate. This is a crime book, but one that also explores the politics of going back home; whilst also returning to a culture where the rules for women are different.
At the beginning of the event, we were told it has ‘Never been more complicated or more important’ to put on a literature festival, making it accessible to all. This statement is then proved in the first 10 minutes by Saima, an award winning journalist, as she discusses her career. As a freelance journalist and now author, she understands both worlds well.
‘Fiction is more powerful than news’ … ‘it changes us in ways the news doesn’t anymore.’
saima mir
Whilst working as a journalist in Bradford, she heard it all: rumours, crime, interesting strangeness. Stuff that was unverified and thus not printable but she heard so many different stories that stayed with her. The Khan is set in a nondescript Northern city. Saima reasons that she didn’t want to add to Bradford’s already poor reputation as being dangerous, as she knew better than that, but anyone from Bradford (someone who knows the good and the bad) would recognise it as the setting.
That is something she shares with the main character- this necessity to ‘straddle cultures’ whilst navigating life: to do and say certain things in white culture that you wouldn’t back home and vice versa. Jai is an assertive woman, a lawyer no less, but to gain favour and help from others (usually men) in the ‘old world’ she must control how she is interpreted and ‘police her tone’ to fit into that world correctly.
Saima said that writing this novel was a very personal experience as she included aspects of her culture not typically addressed in such detail and certainly not in this genre. When it comes to crime novels, it’s all very white, male and London-centric but here we are with Asian women getting a substantial voice. When discussing that particular voice, Saima says ‘you don’t hear those stories’. This is so true in both fact and fiction. Mentioning the Bradford riots as an example: the perpetrators were arrested because their mothers turned them in but, other than that, not much is known. What is their story?
She goes on to say that she wrote a crime book that she herself wanted to read and one that her sisters particularly liked too. This book had an Asian woman main character but she was not oppressed, there were no stupid stereotypes. Her representation was enjoyable because it was somewhat incidental that she was an Asian and Muslim woman. The inclusion of small details are what makes this representation shine through as it shows aspects of Islam that often go unseen. It’s almost like, to get the best representation, you need people who know what they’re talking (writing) about to get published.
Publishing is then discussed but is ultimately interrupted by technical difficulties (it had to happen at some point) for the interviewer. This is gracefully dealt with by Saima, reading an extract from The Khan whilst he presumably wrestled with his computer. Upon the interviewers eventual return, they discuss her inspirations. Saima would often read Malcom X speeches for the rhythm and also some Stephen King. Most interestingly, the book was partly inspired by the moments of ‘fighting the ghosts of who we used to be’ when going back in family homes for a short time, which is a brilliantly effective and accurate phrase to just throw out there. Putting it all together, what is a compelling crime novel if not righteousness, a little bit of horror and a certain amount of facing your own (aka the protagonist’s) demons?
In the final moments of the event, she promised that she was working on a sequel. She also said that she had come to terms with the fact that she had ‘a right to do this’ and had the right to ‘take up space’ amongst other crime writers. I must say that I am happy she is! The hour I spent listening to her was fantastic and I will be buying The Khan very soon.
You can purchase your copy here.
Written by Beth Percy.
For more from the Leeds Lit Fest, read about an event on writing the landscape or an interview with Monique Roffey.