Poetry and Prose, A Rush to the Stars By M Nazar Syed

Nazar opens up about the book and his writing journey

KARACHI:

Nazar Syed's debut publication A Rush to the Stars has made head-waves, in a short span of time.

The book, Nazar's debut publication, is a compilation of his poetry and prose from 2014 onward.

Nazar is a writer and a poet from Karachi. Since 2014, he has written many short stories and poems that have been featured in various literary journals and online catalogs.

He is currently living in Pickering, Ontario along with his family.

Here's what he has to say about the book and his writing journey.

Question: What was the motivation behind the book?

Answer: The motivation of the book was interesting. I was going through a rough break up, and I had begun reading some great poetry by Rumi and Robert Frost to acclimate with the pain. Reading their poems inspired me to vent my feelings on the page too. One poem led to another and soon I had dozens of poems about reconciliation and the art of getting by.

PHOTO: COURTESY: M. NAZAR SYED

It seemed to make sense once I read the words I had written back to myself. It was quite cathartic actually. I read quite a lot of their poetry. I borrowed my friend's copy of The Big Red Book of Poems by Rumi and I already owned Robert Frost's Anthology. I think the stand out poems, the ones that really helped were Rumi's The Guesthouse and Robert Frost's Birches. I wrote response poem to The Guesthouse in my book as well. Sort of like a Shikwa/Jawab e Shikwa type of ordeal."

Thanks again to everyone for taking a chance and reading my poems. You may never know how much that means to me.

— M. Nazar Syed (@mnazarsyed) June 6, 2018

Question: What was the writing process like?

Answer: Writing poetry for me is really organic and very impulsive. I can't sit and forge a poem out of thin air if I'm not moved or inspired by something. And inspiration is a very fickle thing.

Most of my poems were written very spontaneously, almost in the spur of the moment. For example, on a long walk or a drive to the grocery store.

When the lightning strikes, I immediately look for my phone and type it down in my notes or find a pen and paper to scribble the idea on. Usually, the soul of the poem is already there and I just chisel the words a little to find the flow and rhythm."

Question: What were the inspiration behind these, can you recall these lightning strikes?

Answer: I can recall a bunch actually. But the one that really stands out is when I wrote a poem called Garden Story. I was walking beside a flowerbed to the library. It was a flowerbed I walked passed every single day but this specific day, I paid it a little more attention than usual.

I just stared at the tulips and the roses and daffodils all lined up and it felt like a story fell from the sky into my brain. I pulled out my phone and started writing about these flowers as if they were people. I think Garden Story is one of my favourites in the book."

Question: How does it feel receiving a letter from Yann Martel, complimenting your first book?

Answer: The story with Yann is quite unbelievable actually. I met Yann in 2016, when he came to promote his book High Mountains of Portugal. We talked for a good 10-15 minutes about his novel Life of Pi among other things. As a brown immigrant living in Canada, and specifically Toronto, the character of Pi really stuck with me."

Nazar Syed meets Yann Martel, author of life of PiPHOTO COURTESY: M NAZAR SYED

We talked about the impact that story had on me as a reader. We also talked about my aspirations to become a writer like him, and he had some very insightful things to say about that. At the end of the conversation, he signed my copy of Life of Pi with a quote saying, "May the ocean always nourish your imagination."

Yann Martel's Life of Pi was quintessential to me as a young reader and an aspiring writer. To have gotten this letter from him just shot my confidence skyward and has somehow pulled me out of the mental slump that I found myself in.

— M. Nazar Syed (@mnazarsyed) June 6, 2018

Skip to two years later. When my book was coming out, I got a hold of him through his publishers and sent him a copy with a letter thanking him for inspiring me that day. It's true if I had not had that conversation with Yann, I probably would never have had the guts to compile my poetry and send it to publishers.

PHOTO: COURTESY: M. NAZAR SYED

A few months after that, I got his letter in the mail. It took me by surprise! I thought he probably never got my package. The best thing about all of this is that he remembered what he wrote on my book 2 years ago because at the end of the letter he added, 'May the imagination the ocean-fed continue to grow.'"

You are now a little bit of less of a mortal and a little bit more of an immortal. Enjoy that. May the imagination the ocean fed continue to grow. Cheers.

Yann pic.twitter.com/wA7yYdgqLM

— M. Nazar Syed (@mnazarsyed) June 6, 2018

He's an amazing writer for sure. When I got the letter I was so nervous! A million different things were going in my head regarding what the letter could be about. The most prominent thought of them all was that he probably hated it and he wrote back to me telling me to never write again! but fortunately, it wasn't that"