Being A Writer In Beirut

Marina Chamma is a Beirut-based political economist, writer and blogger on eyeontheeast.org. Having started her university studies at Sophia University in Tokyo, she graduated from the American University of Beirut with a B.A. in Political Science and obtained a M.Sc. in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics. And So We Drive On is her first book. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook on @eyeontheeast

“And So We Drive On”: Never a More Relevant Question

The idea was simple. The book was going to be about Beirut. That’s all I wanted to do but didn’t know how to go about it. I had over a dozen plots floating in my mind and characters whose lives I had already become intrigued by. I wanted to tell all their stories as a way to tell the story of Beirut itself, a city which is best defined it its own terms: Beirut is Beirut. I didn’t want a romanticized version of it, nor a narrative filled with stereotypes and clichés. And if I was going to deal with some of those clichés, it would be as a way to shatter them or at least put them in the local context they deserved. This was going to be about the city I call home. 

And So We Drive On, therefore, came to life as a collection of short stories inspired by Lebanon and life in Beirut, a city many of us love to hate and hate that we love. Despite this ambivalence, I wanted to give a voice to Beirut, an authentic voice, to tell its stories as they really were and not as we wanted to hear them. The storylines centered around subject-matters, which captured part of the city’s essence as encountered in everyday life. Some stories turned out to be very specific to the city or often associated with Lebanon (inc. stories of those arbitrarily detained, of immigration and espionage), while others could have taken place anywhere else (e.g. stories dealing with poverty, infidelity and identity).

As the stories came together, I started sending them out for first readings, and readers seemed to enjoy them as short stories. When I mentioned the idea to some professionals and potential publishers, I didn’t get much encouragement, the argument being that short stories was a niche genre and didn’t have a place in the market. I was so convinced by my project that such reasoning only pushed me towards getting the work done. More importantly, however, I had not officially become an author yet and already had strong opinions about the publishing industry and the choices they make for readers.  If you ask me, readers should be listened to much more often.

Still, the book had to have something that brought it together, and Beirut as the common denominator wasn’t enough. But maybe it was after all. It took a one-hour random conversation with someone who was advising me on the publishing process to realize that indeed there was a common thread in these stories. And it was that in all of them, plots and characters and life, did, and no matter what, drive on… 

What proved all the more ironic is that the common theme among the stories wasn’t as much of a theme, so much as it was a litmus test in itself, to prove my determination, if you will, in making this book see the day of light. One month after I signed with my publisher, Lebanon’s October 17 Revolution erupted. This didn’t cause the ensuing economic and financial crisis, the revolution erupted because of it, among many other reasons.

But as the economic situation exacerbated, my publishers decided to freeze all their projects for 2020, including mine. When I decided to self-publish and found a design agency and printing house to help manage the work, COVID-19 hit and the entire planet went into lockdown. But I continued, taking advantage of the lockdown to finalize the book. When the book was finally done and I had a printed copy in hand, the second corona wave was being announced. Despite the impending public fear, I held a small book signing event in one of my favorite spots in Beirut (Salon Beyrouth), surrounded by socially distanced friends, books and masks. A last minute flare up in South Lebanon was the last thing I needed on that day, but the event went ahead regardless.

As I mentioned in a small post on the blog, the timing couldn’t have been worse, but then again there may not have been a better time to release the book, if only as a deep-seated act of defiance, refusing to have Beirut destroy yet another of my dreams. Now it was time the world met my little book about Beirut. Little did I know, the world was about to re-visit Beirut in the most horrific way imaginable on August 4.       

Today, more than ever, I need to believe that no matter what happens, life does truly drive on and we drive along with it. Yet, what happened on August 4, itself an accumulation of 30 years of everything that is wrong in Lebanon, has brought this belief to the test yet again. Deep down I know, we will rise again, but on some days, it’s just harder to believe it. 

Either way, my intention remains to talk about Beirut through its own stories. To show it as a city like any other, but like none other, a city that has suffered far too much, but whose people somehow always find the resolve to never surrender and drive on… 

Support Lebanese businesses and get your copy of And So We Drive from AntoineOnline.com, BuyLebanese.com and Lebzone.com. In line with Lebzone.com ‘s campaign to help those affected by the Beirut explosion, 40% of all proceeds from the book sold on Lebzone.com will be donated to the Lebanese Red Cross at this time.

Description

And So We Drive On | Short Stories

A mother encounters her son, arbitrarily detained during Lebanon’s civil war, revealing almost everything she wanted to know about his dreadful ordeal. A nearby shooting causes an unexpected detour, unveiling a desolate Beirut, hidden behind pitch-black nights and unfinished buildings. A soon to retire spy returns to Beirut and reestablishes contact with a former asset, but is he the one being spied on this time?

And So We Drive On is a collection of short stories inspired by Lebanon and life in Beirut, a city many of us love to hate and hate that we love. The stories are about life itself, in all its beauty and ugliness. Inspired by the experiences of some, they are ultimately the stories of all. They are a reflection that no matter what happens to us, we as human beings move on. We drive on and life, somehow, drives along with us.

 

Tags: beirut, featured, women writers

Category: On Writing