Rawah Arja is a writer and teacher from Western Sydney. Her writing has featured in Arab, Australian, Other, SBS Voices and at the Sydney Writer’s Festival. She has received a fellowship from WestWords Varuna Emerging Writers’ Residential Program, is a member of the Finishing School collective of women writers, and teaches creative writing at schools and workshops. Her new novel is a young adult novel called The F Team.
Today, Rawah Arja is on the blog to answer our Ten Terrifying Questions – read on!
Rawah Arja
1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?
Ahoy-hoy! My name is Rawah Arja and I was born, raised and went to school in the culturally diverse suburb of Punchbowl in South Western Sydney. I come from a small Lebanese family of seven siblings—and yes I’m the golden child—as well as an uncle who thinks having bees as pets is good for the immune system.
As crazy as it sounds, I never liked reading as a teenager and would much rather spend my time hanging from trees or digging up imaginary treasures in my backyard. Yes, even as a teenager I lived in my own imaginary world since I couldn’t find it in books. Actually, come to think of it, I still do, except I enjoy reading now.
2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?
At twelve, I wanted eat as many donuts as I could without my dentist finding out. Come to think of it, I still do.
At eighteen, I wanted to live in Egypt, become an archaeologist with my very own tool kit and dig up artefacts and mummies! But my Arabic isn’t the best and so when I had to explain it to my parents, this is what it sounded like: ‘I want to move half way across the world to dig up dead bodies, brush dust from their bones and possibly sip tea with some pharaohs.’
At thirty, I’m right where I want to be. Teaching creative writing workshops, seeing my debut novel published – and still eating donuts!
3. What strongly held belief did you have when you were younger that you do not have now?
That my story didn’t matter. Sadly, I thought my existence depended upon whether people accepted me or not.
4. What are three works of art – book or painting or piece of music, etc – that you can now say had a great effect on you and influenced your own development as a writer?
I’m not much of a music or painting person but books were a really big influence on my development as a writer, but not without my struggling to read as a young adult. I often found books boring and had to fight to keep my eyes open. The words on the page were too small and worst of all, there were no pictures! Who reads books with no pictures? It was only when my English teacher recommended a few books like Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta or Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah that I began to see pieces of myself in books. I no longer had to worry about the negative news stories constantly reminding me that I was always going to be guilty by association, simply for being Muslim. Even though it sucks that those negative stories still exist, I now have a way to escape the real world when things get tough for me.
5. Considering the innumerable artistic avenues open to you, why did you choose to write a young adult novel?
Unlike many, the innumerable artistic avenues aren’t really open to people like me—a Muslim woman trying to tell her story. Often, it’s the outside world that has told my story or dictated what I can and can’t do. It was my experiences as a teacher and a youth mentor that helped me see the struggles so many teenagers go through, in particular minorities and people of colour. If the majority of their years are spent at school surrounded by books that they’re forced to read, that don’t speak to their world, then it can really be daunting. You can often feel lonely trying to immerse yourself in a world that you can’t make a connection to. That’s why I chose to write a young adult novel. I didn’t want anyone to feel as though they didn’t matter and that their story wasn’t worth telling.
6. Please tell us about your latest book…
Meet Tariq Nader, leader of ‘The Wolf Pack’ at Punchbowl High, who has been commanded by the new principal to join a football competition with his mates in order to rehabilitate the public image of their school. When the team is formed, Tariq learns there’s a major catch – half of the team is made up of white boys from Cronulla, aka enemy territory – and he must compete with their strongest player for captaincy of the team.
At school Tariq thinks he has life all figured out until he falls for a new girl called Jamila, who challenges everything he thought he knew. At home, his outspoken ways have brought him into conflict with his family. Now, with complications on all fronts, he has to dig deep to control his anger, and find what it takes to be a leader.
7. What do you hope readers will take away with them after reading your book?
To google the meaning of Arabic swear words. No—that’s a joke. I want readers to reach out to people and cultures that are different to their own.
Ultimately, The F Team was born out of feeling lost and helpless. I never want anyone to feel like that, let alone teenagers who are at a critical stage in their lives trying to find themselves. I want readers to feel inspired that no matter how hard things get; they have the ability to turn their lives around and make something for themselves, even if the whole world is standing in their way. The F Team is for anyone who felt second best, for anyone who was ignored, and most importantly for anyone who wants to make the world a better place.
8. Who do you most admire in the realm of writing and why?
Any and every writer who never gave up on their story, including me. OK, I know that sounds weird to admire yourself but trust me I’ve been rejected that many times, you’ll find a picture of my face next to the word rejection in the dictionary. It’s time I celebrated a little.
9. Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?
I just want to read as many books as I can that represent the world I live in. Oh, and totally have my book The F Team be read by every high school student in Australia. OK, totally ambitious goals but hey why not dream big?
10. What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Don’t give up. Take it all in because one day you’ll see your novel in book stores and from a distance a young boy or girl will pick it up and choose you. Someone will always choose you but you have to choose yourself first. Everything else will follow.
Thank you for playing!
—The F Team by Rawah Arja (Giramondo Publishing) is out now.
The F Team
Meet Tariq Nader, leader of 'The Wolf Pack' at Punchbowl High, who has been commanded by the new principal to join a football competition with his mates in order to rehabilitate the public image of their school. When the team is formed, Tariq learns there's a major catch – half of the team is made up of white boys from Cronulla, aka enemy territory – and he must compete with their strongest player for captaincy of the team.
At school Tariq thinks he has life all figured out until he falls for a new girl called Jamila, who challenges everything...
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