(Photo by Saima Khalid)
Kate Black caught up with this year’s contest judge, Sharan Dhaliwal, to learn what she’s looking for in a winning entry and get a sneak peek into her latest work. Sharan is the editor-in-chief of Burnt Roti magazine, a platform created to give South Asians a voice, while breaking stigmas around sexuality and mental health. She is a writer, with bylines in the Guardian, Broadly and i-D
Click here to read our rules and regulations and to submit to the contest!
You recently wrote that Burnt Roti “was born from a selfish need to talk about things that affected (your) life.” What has founding and writing for Burnt Roti taught you about the importance of non-fiction?
It’s honestly like therapy. For someone that can’t afford therapy, I write. When I first started writing, it was mostly about my nose job, body hair and being multilingual. So many people connected with it because it approached those subjects with the added nuance of my cultural heritage. People appreciated the candid approach to subject matter that usually isn’t discussed. I had a few pieces submitted about the racist abuse faced by South Asians and it sparked so many conversations. It’s important to document what’s happening in the world right now, but specifically how it affects you. There’s a tendency to dehumanize current events, when these events are in fact are the product of us. If there’s any chance in stopping history from repeating itself, we have to document our individual experiences.
Which piece of your own writing are you most proud of?
After I came out in an article (one that was poorly written due to an attempt to contain my panic attack), I wrote a follow-up piece about what it was like to come out as bisexual and everyone’s perception of me. It’s called “What Your Misconceptions Of Bisexuality Has Done To Me” and was a true outpouring of emotions. I’m proud of it for a few reasons, but mostly because it was the most transparent I’ve been about how homophobia and biphobia has impacted my mental health. I really believe that honesty shows in your writing, and when there’s a tendency to elaborate, you will receive true appreciation from transparency.
We’re so excited to have you judging the PRISM Creative Non-fiction contest! What qualities are you looking for in a winning entry?
Thank you! I’m so excited too!! I’m looking for a few things. Like many, I read from my emotional intelligence. I want to empathize and learn something new—but I don’t want to read something that’s been written before. Every time you read something, you take away from it and I like to take away knowledge or a new found empathy. I like honesty in writing—when someone can strip away their insecurities with their words, I connect with that.
What advice do you have for emerging writers?
Do what I do: write all the time, on pieces of paper, in my notes on my phone, on my laptop, in random notebooks until something connects. I have so many ideas and there’s so much I want to do, but I can’t do any of it with half my energy. When I’m really excited about something, it shows in my writing. So write down everything until you feel a moment of excitement. Then you know it’s something worth continuing—you’re your own worst critic, so garnering your own interest is a huge feat.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on an anthology with my magazine called “The Consequences of Us”—a fiction book based on the game Consequence. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s an old parlour game where someone writes a sentence, folds the page and passes it to someone to write the next line. This continues until the paper is completely folded. When it’s unravelled you read out the full story. I’m doing this but chapter by chapter with 20 South Asian womxn and non-binary writers from around the world. I’m also working on a non-fiction book at the moment, but can’t give away too much!
Thanks so much for sharing your brilliance with us, Sharan!
Now, polish up those non-fiction pieces and don’t forget to submit by July 31.