Youth Observer is thrilled to sit down with a new voice in the literary world, Ramzi Zaindeen whose debut work has already been making waves for its unique storytelling and fresh perspective.
With an ability to blend vivid imagery, gripping plotlines, and deeply human characters, Ramzi is becoming a name to watch. Whether tackling themes of death or pushing the boundaries of genre, this emerging talent is definitely one to watch out for.
In this interview, we dive into Ramzi’s creative process, what inspired his debut, and what we can expect next from this rising star. So, without further ado, let’s get to know the writer behind the buzz.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your creative process?
A: I can talk about this book, my first book. I wrote this first book for my partner. I ran out of gifts to give her after eight years being in a relationship. I thought I need to give her something different this year. So I thought of writing her a book although she didn’t know I was writing a book. So I took about an hour when everyone was asleep to write so it was a commitment and sort of a discipline I had everyday to sit and write something. So that continued for about six months and later on I had about four weeks to finish it. So the one hour I had for writing came to be about four hours and I finished it on her birthday an hour before I went to meet her.
Q: So where did the story come from? Is it something that just brewed up in your mind?
A: I never thought about it too much I thought I need to write something different. So this is a complete different genre with a little bit of fantasy, tragic comedy and a little bit of rhetoric also. Because the narrator talks a lot in this book
Q: Is the story through your perspective?
A: Not through my perspective it’s just a character.
Q: Are there any particular themes or messages you aim to convey in your work?
A: Absolutely. There’s a whole chapter about death and that’s there because I felt like people kind of forget certain narratives. I think this book also touches on certain feelings that we kind of brush off so it is also something that the title says. “I see you” it’s like I’m looking at someone else but it also self-reflects so if you really think about it I see myself.
Q: Who are your biggest literary influences how have they shaped your writing ?
A: Wow that’s a tough question. I have a few authors that I really like. This might sound like a cliche but George Orwell I found quite fascinating because one thing that fascinates me is that his sentences can be really long he won’t have a full stop for an entire page, and it makes sense when you read it.
So it’s a skill to keep the reader engaged with that kind of a style. So, I thought George Orwell was very talented. When it comes to like contemporary writers I liked Dilshan Boange as well. He has a simple method in telling a story. So I read his first book “Omunkashyu” which is just a conversation but it’s an amazing story so I like his writing as well.
I like Harlan Corben I don’t know whether he’s popular here but he’s a good writer and quite underrated. Those are the three main guys I like. There’s another writer called Tess Gerritsen, she writes medical fiction and her book called “Surgeon” made me a reader again. So I probably had a like a few years break reading stuff. So her book, “Surgeon”, made me like, oh my God, this is brilliant writing. It’s like a thriller, horror kind of book, fantastic.
Q: What has writing taught you about yourself ?
A: It’s an interesting process, actually. One thing I didn’t realise I had was that discipline, and also I didn’t realise that I could make sense by writing. I didn’t know that people actually read my writing. Even with this book, I felt connected with the feedback that I received.
Even my sister read the book, so that’s a huge deal because she is not a reader. She gave me some feedback yesterday. She said, you know, you should write the second part of it because there are so many gaps that you have kept. I think we would like to see more of it.
So that’s an interesting feedback coming from my sister. I felt feedback like this is very important for a writer just to keep going and also feel motivated. I don’t necessarily categorise feedback to be good or bad it’s just feedback that I receive. I didn’t realise that people actually liked reading my stuff so that is something that I want to reflect upon.
Q: What was the most challenging part of writing this book?
A: So the challenging part was this is a gift like I said earlier so I didn’t know how this would be received by my partner because it’s not a romantic story. Probably the gesture would have been romantic but the content was nowhere near romance.
For me to be satisfied with the ending was a challenge because I felt like I rushed it a little bit because I was sort of challenged for time. So that was the toughest part, to be satisfied with the work that you are doing.
Dilshan gave me the best advice. He told me to sleep on it for about a year and get back to it and see whether I would like it or not, which I actually did. And he was right, I liked it. I had nothing much to do except for a few bits and pieces shifting here and there. I didn’t change anything greatly.
Q: What do you hope your readers will take away from your story?
A: I hope they’ll have fun reading it. If they can imagine the story in their head, and connect to it in some way, that’s the best that I can hope for.
There’s a little bit of humour in this and also a little bit of darkness in it.
Not too eerie, and also self-reflective. I don’t know if that’s a possibility but if someone can think about what’s written here and it makes some impact to the reader’s imagination that’s what I can hope for as a writer.
Q: How much of your real life experiences influence your writing?
A: Oh quite a lot actually I think as a person who’s into working with multiple communities, as I’m a trainer by profession, I get to meet new people almost every day and work in different parts of the country. And the things that I’ve seen and also probably certain issues that I’ve seen in the outside environment have influenced me. I’m very curious when it comes to how people perceive things because I question it a lot when someone gives an answer I would ask them why? I have a sense of curiosity to understand so that has been very effective when it comes to writing different perspectives that were explored during my work. The narrator is not me, but I think there’s a lot that can be me, and also whatever I have experienced. I think the readers would also connect to it in some way.
Q: Is there a particular genre or literary form that you are drawn to, or do you like to experiment across different ones?
A: I am drawn to horror and thrillers, even when watching movies I would be drawn to that because it’s very difficult to scare me. I probably have a thing for snakes, but even then I don’t think I’m necessarily scared that I will jump off and run. It’s very difficult to satisfy anybody with a horror film because it’s not about jump scares. It’s about giving you the sense of darkness where, some unforeseen force is going to do something to you.
So I like reading thrillers and horror genre simply because it’s very challenging to make me afraid. So I think I am drawn to that genre. But here’s the thing, I’m yet to read Stephen King. But I know if I start, there’s no end. I’m a huge fan of his movies, but I’m yet to read anything of his work, I have a feeling that I would easily be connected to it.
Q: What projects or ideas are you currently working on?
A: So I am conceptualising the sequel for this book. So there’s a part two, because I kind of left so many stories untold in this book. And also I’m writing a memoir where I like to capture certain personalities and incidents that happened in their life because I felt like no one is going to necessarily talk about these people. But these people are brilliant human beings that need to be celebrated in some way so I’ve already started writing it so that’s a work in progress, but definitely the sequel would be ready by early next year.
Q: Do you have any specific goals or dreams you want to achieve as an author?
A: That’s a tough question. I mean, so long as people read it and have fun reading it, that’s the best impact I can make.
But as an individual, I was part of a lot of theatre work, also community-based theatre like foreign theatre and disruptive theatre so I want to maybe start doing it again because I kind of miss that whole experience because I haven’t been in a play for a while although I’ve done the back-office work like writing scripts and directing. But I want to be on stage and work with people. So maybe that’s something that can come up in the future. And also, it’s a long shot, but maybe like making a movie at some point.
Because I like that creative space where people will get something and be entertained, and I like to see their faces, looking at something that is enjoyable.
That is something that I would like to see in the future because there’s ample space to do that with social media. I think the possibilities are endless.
