experienceto.com, January 2009
Andrea Gunraj is a community outreach worker for METRAC, which promotes the rights of women and children to live free from violence and the threat of violence. Earlier this year she published her first novel The Sudden Disappearance of Seetha which is gaining recognition across Canada. Experience Toronto had the chance to sit down with the Toronto author...Here's what she had to say.
ETO: What inspired you to write The Sudden Disappearance of Seetha?
Andrea: Many different things, particularly my mother and reflecting upon family dynamics I've experienced and seen around me. Family is such an overwhelming and important influence on how many of us think, what we want, and where we see our lives going. I've also been influenced by Bible stories I grew up hearing and reading; I've always been surprised by how those stories don't idealize their heroes the way you'd expect them to. Unflattering characteristics of the great heroes are often clear, delivered mercilessly. But what becomes important in those stories is what the heroes do with their flaws, how they grow past them or learn to do the right thing in spite of them.
ETO: This is your debut novel. Has it always been goal of yours to be a published author?
Andrea: I had no idea this would happen, or that this even could happen. I hadn't written much before, only academic papers for school and public outreach materials for work. I just started writing the story after thinking about the idea for a while, and was very encouraged by an emerging authors grant I had successfully applied for to the Toronto Arts Council. When I decided to send it out to literary agents, just to see what would happen, I was shocked to receive positive feedback and interest. It's wonderful and weird how it has happened.
ETO: Neela is a fascinating character. Is she based on someone or from your imagination? Tell us a bit about whom that character is.
Andrea: She's not based on any one person in particular, but bits and pieces of who she is are certainly in people I know, including myself. Her stubbornness is exasperating at times and her recklessness causes heartache. But I think she's such a sympathetic character because she's ambitious and longs for much more than what she has, more than her family sees in her. At the same time that she can be selfish, she grows into a self-awareness and that allows her to look back at resentments and disappointments in a way that a lot of us do - many of us realize that there's nothing we can do to change the past and the damage that we've done to others, but we'll often feel an urgent desire to affect our future and make amends. Again, I'm so interest in how people process their flaws and their past and try to do something better in the future.
ETO: There is a very clear brother/sister rivalry in the novel. Did you have siblings?
Andrea: I do have a sister, and we have a good relationship. But I understand the tendency towards rivalry when you're young - I think all siblings have had times when they felt they needed to compete, sometimes losing the competition. The hope is that it won't last into adulthood like it does with Neela and Navi.
ETO: You've been named "A New Face of Fiction" for 2009. How does that make you feel?
Andrea: Amazed, thankful. Again, this has been completely unexpected - it's a blessing.
ETO: Have you thought about writing a second novel?
Andrea: Definitely. We'll see what happens, but I'm all the more encouraged and excited about writing some more.
ETO: You are heavily involved with the METRAC. Tell us a bit about that important organization and why it is so close to your heart.
Andrea: METRAC has been around since 1984. It seeks to prevent and end violence against diverse women, youth, and children. Violence against women and girls has always been a concern to me - even as a child, I was bothered by the fact that I had to "be very careful" where I went and who I spoke with and what I did just because I was a girl. The fear of assault and disrespect was always present and it affected every other girl that I knew as well. I started as a volunteer at METRAC 8 years ago and have been involved ever since - I love the organization's focus on prevention, stopping something before it happens. I love the framework we use, understanding issues of power, discrimination, and rights and how those things are deeply related to the fact that 1 in 2 Canadian women will experience violence in their lifetimes. And I absolutely love METRAC's community-mindedness and creativity. For example, we did research on new forms of media and interviewed more than 250 children to see what they wanted in terms of prevention, and the result was our award-winning online video game, RePlay: Finding Zoe.
ETO: Did your experiences at METRAC have any influence in The Sudden Disappearance of Seetha?
Andrea: Issues of sexism and violence against women are present in the book, as well as local and global power dynamics. I can't help but mix them in, and I think they're such an important and fascinating element of the story.Really, what I care about is showing how they affect the characters'day-to-day lives and relationships.
ETO: Who is your favorite author?
Andrea: I have many favourites - too many to name. But I'll pick out Mildred D. Taylor, the children's writer who wrote books like Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry and Let the Circle be Unbroken. I grew up reading her series even though they weren't in our curriculum; I didn't read or care for Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia or books like that as a kid. Mildred Taylor's books focussed on the experiences of a very sensitive, thoughtful young girl of colour, and reading them for the first time, I felt connected to the novels personally.
ETO: What are you reading right now?
Andrea: I just finished Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley.
ETO: What is your guilty literary pleasure?
Andrea: My life's not that juicy ... But sometimes I get tired of reading heavy, emotionally draining novels and fall back on books with lots of pictures.
ETO: You live in Toronto with your husband. Do you have any favorite spots around the city you would like to tell us about?
Andrea: I love walking around downtown Toronto in general, especially on a nice day, not rushing to go anywhere. During the summer, the Harbourfront is a treat to go to, especially when there are free outdoor concerts.
ETO: What is the one thing you want readers to take away after reading The Sudden Disappearance of Seetha?
Andrea: I'd like people to get a sense of hope - that regrets, as difficult as they are, can come to good, it just depends what we do with them. And I want them to enjoy the reading experience.