Exploring Salutation Road: A Conversation with Salma Ibrahim
What has your writing journey been like?
The act of writing is truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced, even when it's difficult. My overall writing journey, however, has been tough. I always say it was character development for me. I was taught to humble myself before my craft and to the perfect timing of God's plan. In a way, I'm glad I took my time. Writing my debut novel required me to reach a kind of self-actualisation where I could confidently articulate who I am and what I'm trying to do. 20-something year old Salma would have second-guessed herself at every turn. I'm grateful for the wisdom that comes with time, much like Sirad by the end of the book.
What does it mean to be able to write about your identity to such length?
It's so freeing. For so long, female POC voices only mattered if they were in some kind of entanglement with a white man. Yawn! I adore how I have brought every facet of the average Somali female Londoner's life into this story: her faith, her dreams, the aesthetics of home and also her relationships. None of it is dogmatic or preachy. It's just real.
What books/writers did you enjoy when you were growing up?
My interests are very random. I read everything when I was growing up because I just love what words can do. From autobiographies, to horror, to the classics. I was moved by Kate Chopin's The Awakening and the passionate voices of 17th and 18th Century women. I love Nabokov and the way he plays with beautiful words and his mastery of memory. I really like the subtlety of Japanese authors like Yukio Mishima and Banana Yoshimoto — my absolute favourite being Kitchen. I also took great inspiration from Black American female authors like Octavia Butler and Zora Neale Hurston and the way they bravely and lyrically spoke for women of their time. When I first read Warsan Shire's Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth, I found a clear path paved for me.
How have you found the process of publishing as a woman of colour and as a woman who is visibly Muslim?
So far, personally-speaking, it has been great, though I'm acutely aware of the need for systemic change. I haven't come across a hijab-wearing author like me at any of the debut events and debut spaces I've been in and I know for a fact there are many trying to make it to publication. I often think about what I can do to help and I will do my best now that I'm on the other side. It's a vocation that I take seriously.
What made you want to write about themes such as blended families, immigration, and mental health?
When I was writing, I didn't think about the themes I would choose to explore until I had first imagined my protagonist. I thought about all the things that a 23-year old Somali girl growing up in Brexit Britian might experience. Then the themes, messages and symbols flowed naturally from there. Immigration and its implications touches every facet of our lives from family dynamics, to our mental and physical health. I think in many ways it will always be a part of my work.
How did you find it writing about two different locations, both Somalia and the UK?
So many of my peers haven't had the chance to visit Somalia or to go back if they were born there. Most of my friends were born elsewhere and have either visited once or not at all. We talk about our experiences often and every conversation is tinged with curiosity and a second-hand nostalgia. I wanted to explore the idea of exile and belonging in Salutation Road using the parallel universe trope because I thought it was a good way to explore the factors that have kept us away from our homeland and how we feel about that.
What do you want to write about next?
I can't share too much but I will be exploring nostalgia and memory in a way that 90s kids who are also existentialists and hopeless romantics will hopefully appreciate!
Purchase your copy of Salutation Road now: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/salma-ibrahim/salutation-road/9781035044344