Hengameh Yaghoobifarah, how did the writing process of your two novels differ?
“Ministry of Dreams” required more historical research. I spoke a lot with contemporary witnesses, which “Dizziness” was not the case. The plot of “Vertigo” can be summed up quickly, but the form is much more experimental.
There are some sex scenes in the book. What was it like writing them?
I tried out a lot of things because I was afraid it would quickly become cringe. And I was hesitant about the novel being reduced to sex, because the perception of queer life in the mainstream is often sex-related. But there aren’t that many queer romance novels that are about sex. There is a discrepancy between the perception of queer literature from the outside and what actually happens.
What role does trauma play in the novel?
Different traumas play a role for different characters. In Silvia’s case, we learn about her coming out in the midst of the AIDS crisis, which is a collective trauma for people of her generation. In the case of the protagonist Ava, there is the personal trauma of her father’s absence, which she repeatedly uses as an excuse not to take responsibility for her own behavior.
I’m not saying that people who are traumatized should pull themselves together or anything like that. But I was interested in what happens when people, thanks to pop-psychological social media discourse, get comfortable with their trauma and use it as a kind of free pass.
Why is the perspective of the nonbinary character Delia lowercase?
It was important to me to have a different style, sound and form for each character in the multi-perspective narrative. Delia is suited to the lowercase writing and the lyrical elements that sometimes appear. Robin, on the other hand, thinks very analytically; her perspective often has something essay-like about it.
In the novel, there is a conflict between the characters about who has the most right to be on the roof with Ava. Do you experience such conflicts yourself?
I have never been in that situation myself, but I think that in all contexts where there is a scarcity, competition for a resource can quickly arise, be it attention, money or love. People often want to show solidarity, but when things get tough, competition often arises. This is especially true in poly constellations.
People don’t like to admit it to themselves when it happens. You are also separated from the different relationships, so you can block it out. But in the situation on the roof, that’s not possible, because there it’s also about resources like food, for example.
Who do you see as the pioneers of “fraud”?
Good question. I would say definitely Anne Carsonbecause she also plays with different forms in her novels. But also older queer and trans activists like Lou Sullivan, who wrote down their lives and gave us a kind of archive. Hélène Cixous’ theory of Écriture féminine impressed me and got me thinking. I asked myself: If there is a female way of telling stories, what could a non-binary way of telling stories look like?
More and more queer authors are being published by major publishers. How do you assess this development?
I think it’s nice when queer literature doesn’t remain in a niche and can be found with the same resources as other literature. It’s important that the literature remains queer, resistant and irritating and doesn’t have the pressure to appeal to as many people as possible. Of course there are queer writers who still appeal to a lot of people.
Audre Lorde and James Baldwin are not niche figures and yet have not made any compromises in their writing. The main thing is that we don’t just write for people who have nothing to do with us, just so that they understand why homophobia is bad – to put it very naively. It would also be interesting to see how this affects the literary world. Whether, for example, we will no longer be misgendered at some point. Not that that would be the biggest problem for trans people, but it would be kind of cool to be correctly gendered in interviews and emails.
