Q&A with Manjushree Thapa
Manjushree Thapa is a Canadian writer and translator of Nepali descent.;
Q Why do you write?
I write to understand the complexity of human experience.
Q Describe your favourite writing space.
Any desk with a view. I like to look out at water, or at mountains but any view will do. (My desk looks out onto a busy street.)
Q Your favourite word?
Oy. Followed by “gah” and “yee”.
Q Do you have a writing schedule?
When I’m working on a project, I work from early morning to mid-afternoon.
Q Ever struggled with writer’s block?
Yes, it came in the form of repetitive stress injury from too much typing. I had real difficulty wanting to sit down and type, till I learned how to ease the pain.
Q Do you keep a diary?
I use a diary to take notes on my writing projects, and also to work out the thoughts and feelings that arise in my daily life.
Q What inspires you to write? Do you have a secret trick, or a book/author that helps?
There are several authors I’ll reread every few years to remember my literary roots, including Virginia Woolf.
Q Best piece of advice you’ve ever got?
To exercise and meditate regularly.
Q Coffee/tea/cigarettes – numbers please – while you are writing…
A cup of coffee in the morning, and anywhere from two to four cups of tea afterwards.
Q Which books are you reading at present?
Three memoirs: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictee, Louise Erdrich’s Books and Islands and Richard Wagamese’s One Native Life. I’m also reading books about Indrabahadur Rai’s life and times in Darjeeling.
Q Who are your favourite authors?
Too many to name! Michael Ondaatje and Mahasweta Devi are two. I gravitate towards authors who write with great intelligence and emotional precision. Among Nepali-language writers, Indrabahadur Rai and Parijat are my favourites.
Q Which book/author should be banned on grounds of bad taste?
I don’t believe that books should be banned. Readers are free to avoid books they don’t want to read.
Q Which are your favourite children’s books?
I really like the Horrid Henry books by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross.
Q Which classics do you want to read?
I’ve never read Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin or the full version of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust.
Q Who is your favourite literary character?
Lila from Marilynne Robinson’s novel of the same name.
Q Which is the funniest book you have read?
I don’t often read for humour. Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem did make me laugh out loud. But then so did A Dictionary of Maqiao by Han Shaogong.
Q Which is the most erotic book you have read?
When I was younger, Anais Nïn’s Cities of the Interior. Recently, James Salter’s All That Is.
Q Which book do you wish you had written?
The Enigma of Arrival by V.S. Naipaul.