Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award: Sunjeev Sahota

The second in my series of interviews with the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award nominees features Sunjeev Sahota. Sahota’s first novel, Ours Are The Streets (2011), a pacey examination of immigrant identity and radicalisation, marked him out as a writer to watch, a status endorsed by his selection as one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists in 2013. His follow-up, The Year of the Runaways, is a multi-layered narrative following the lives of migrant workers living in Sheffield. A rich, beautifully written political novel, Runaways  has gathered further recognition for Sahota, including a place on the Booker Prize shortlist.

When did you first start writing seriously?

The summer of 2006, living in an overheated little flat in Leeds

What was the first novel you ever finished, and was it published?

‘Ours are the Streets’, my first published novel, was also the first I finished, though the final published draft is so different to the first that not many would recognise it as a predecessor.

What where the books which inspired you to write?

When I was starting out every book seemed to leave a trace and particularly deep impressions were left by ‘Midnight’s Children’, ‘A Fine Balance’ and ‘A House for Mr Biswas’. 

Is there anyone you would consider your literary mentor?

I don’t think so, no.

Did you do any formal training – creative writing courses or similar?

No, though I sometimes wish I had.

What is your ideal place to go when you write?

I have a basement study that contains only a chair, desk, laptop and lightbulb. I’m easily distracted, so it works for me.

What’s your ambition for your fiction?

That it seeks and speaks the truth as I feel it; that it’s read, by everyone.

Who are your favourite contemporary writers?

Anne Enright, Colm Toibin. Norman Rush. Gwendoline Riley. Damon Galgut, J M Coetzee. I loved Gavin McCrea’s debut ‘Mrs. Engels’.

Do you have a muse, and if so what form does it take?

I don’t think I do and I’m not sure I fully understand the concept. I try to just get to my desk for around 10am and write sentences that I know I’ll probably delete by midday.

Can you pitch your book to someone who hasn’t read it?

I hope the title – ‘The Year of the Runaways’ – can double as a reasonable pitch!