She may have only two books to her name, but American author Jasmine Warga seems to have figured out the kind of stories she wants to tell. Identity, family and legacy are the interconnected themes that guide her two books despite them having wildly different tones and premises. Her debut novel “My Heart and Other Black Holes” tells the story of Aysel, a teenager with depression who contemplates ending her life. “Here We Are Now,” on the other hand, is about Taliah, a young girl who discovers that her absentee father is a famous rock star.
“Both of these are first-generation stories. They’re girls whose parents came from a different country to make a life in America,” she said. “What does it mean to be the first person in your family who’s truly American, but also to carry on your family’s cultural history? That tension and question are present in both my books and probably in almost anything I write because it’s a question I’m still trying to figure out,” said Jasmine, who is half-Jordanian.
Along with author Jennifer E. Smith, Jasmine was here earlier this month for book signings in Manila and Cebu organized by National Book Store. Super talked to Jasmine about cultural diversity, mental health, and what readers can expect from her upcoming novels.
Can you tell me more about how National Book Store invited you to the Philippines? My publisher, HarperCollins, told me that National Book Store wanted me to come over here the week of the release of my new book. The only thing that made me nervous is I have two little kids at home. I had to figure out if I would be able to do it. My husband and my mom [said], “You should definitely do it. We’ll figure it out.”
What are you most excited about? I think just getting to meet all these readers. I’ve noticed on the internet [that the Philippines has] such active, passionate readers.
What was your inspiration for writing “My Heart and Other Black Holes?” The book was written in a period of personal grief for me. I just lost one of my closest friends unexpectedly. I was thinking a lot about what it means to live, what it means to die. From meditating on that topic, the character of Aysel came to me.
What was your process in choosing how to portray Aysel’s depression? I just wrote from my own experience. I suffer from mental health issues. I’m diagnosed with an anxiety disorder that often manifests itself in a depressive way. I think because I have experienced it, I know that it’s not a glamorous thing. I didn’t consult anybody when writing the book. After the book was bought and edited, my editor had different psychiatrists look at it to vet it, to make sure it was authentic.
You depicted her depression as a black slug. How did you come up with the imagery? It’s really hard to describe to someone who hasn’t been through [depression] because they think of it as a deep sadness. But depression is different. It’s this paralyzing numbness. I was trying to find an image that fit that. There’s nothing beautiful or flowery about it and so I wanted the language to match it, to have the same taste and feel as how the experience actually felt.
What is your new book, “Here We Are Now,” about? It’s about a 16-year-old girl who one day a famous rock star shows up on her doorstep and announces that he’s her dad. Is he her dad? How did he know her mom? What does it mean to have a famous parent? Why hasn’t he been in her life? All these questions about what does it mean to be a daughter, what does it mean to be a father, what does it mean to be a mother.
Is the title from the Nirvana song? Yeah! Julian (the rock star dad in the book) is an amalgamation of several different famous rock stars. He’s not meant to be Kurt Cobain, but there’s inspiration there. There’s also inspiration from Julian Casablancas from The Strokes, Matt Berninger from The National, Jack White from The White Stripes.
I read an article that described it as an #OwnVoices novel. Your main character, Taliah, is of Jordanian descent just like yourself. How personal is this novel for you? The #OwnVoices movement really comes from a good place. I think the idea of it is to amplify voices that for a long time have been overlooked or haven’t been heard. But I love fiction because it’s an exercise in make-believe and it’s an exercise in empathy. The only thing that makes me nervous about the #OwnVoices movement is it feels like a little bit too close to implying that novels are memoirs. That said, I’m so excited about the attention that’s being paid to diverse voices. I grew up never seeing Jordanian characters in books, so I’m really thrilled to be able to write books for young Middle Eastern-Americans, young Muslim-Americans. [But] I don’t mean it to be prescriptive on what that identity means because I only had one experience, which is my own.
Can you tell me anything about your next books? My third book is called “Other Words for Home.” It’s about a 12-year-old girl from Syria where things are starting to get a little bit dicey in her hometown. Her mother moves her to go live with her uncle who lives in America. Right now I’m working on my fourth book. I can’t really say too much right now other than it’s about small-town Ohio and what it’s like to [live] in a small town where everyone knows everything.
Jasmine Warga’s books are available from National Book Store.
