Interview with Zvezdana Rashkovich

Zvezdana Rashkovich is a Pushcart Prize nominated author, poet, meditation teacher, and writing mentor. Her culturally diverse background has made her inquisitive about stories and the hero/heroine myths that connect us all. We are delighted to feature this interview with her!

Thank you so much for joining us on WWWB, Zvezdana!

Thank YOU, for your amazing platform where women writers share their books and journeys.

Tell us about your beginning, where are you from?

I was born in the former Yugoslavia, in a gorgeous little town on the banks of the river Drava. Osijek is in Croatia, or specifically, Slavonia, a region that is the nature bounty of the entire country. The land here is lush, fertile, and flourishing. It is also swampy, and pungent with scents of flora and fauna. My stepfather is Sudanese, so from the age of eleven I grew up in Khartoum where I attended a Catholic (all girls’ school) where I was taught by Italian nuns.

I believe my syntax, and English language learning in general, were shaped by these very hodge-podge forces: My mother language; Serbo Croatian, my stepfather’s Arabic language, the education systems (including the dialect, accents and syntax of the Italian nuns, and my history teacher who was a priest) and my friends and classmates who mostly used British centered English nuanced with Sudanese dialect of Arabic.

Also, I was simultaneously learning Arabic, so I think all this diversity comes across in my writing, but I cherish that, because it has enriched language symbiotics for me. Later, after high school I worked at a United States Aid mission, where I was exposed to Americans, and the various accents of America.

To say my English learning process was chaotic would be an understatement.

When I moved to the United States to attend university, I continued to be surprised by new ways to speak English. At college in Oregon, I used to say things like flat for apartment, and garden for backyard, among other slips, (which in retrospect feels insignificant) but at the time it was relearning English in many ways. For a foreign student who grew up nomadic and multicultural in Africa, fitting into another culture was all a very big deal.

Also like many others who moved to America, I was used to the metric system and found it incredibly difficult to make sense of the Imperial system. However, nowadays, back on the other side of the world, in Cairo, I am more comfortable using inches and ounces!

Language lives at the core or my writer’s lifestory. Perhaps, the reason I am enamored by words and linguistics stems from these early days where language was vital for my survival in a strange environment. But that’s a whole other book I’ve written called Yellow Frangipani! Currently, looking for representation for this book while polishing the others in line.

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

When I was seven, my mom and my Sudanese stepfather moved first to Libya, then traveled by car from Europe to Iraq, and again by van, ship, train and ferry to Sudan. Weeks’ long travels confined in various modes of transport, as well as the adventures, the people, the cultures that I was exposed to, these all propelled me into reading and writing. Additionally, once in Sudan, we lived on a far-flung farm by the bank of the Nile River. Secluded and isolated on the farm, I had many empty hours to fill, which I did by spinning dramatic imaginary stories, and makeshift movie screenplays, spurred by my love for Indian cinema. It was a magical time in many ways, and I often yearn for living the silent connection to nature lifestyle like on the farm. Because of how important language was to fitting into new society, I was drawn to reading and writing from those early days in Libya and Sudan.

How has writing changed you as a person?

I don’t really remember a time when I didn’t write. However, writing “seriously” started when I got some work published. It is not unusual for writers to need the validation of being published before saying, “I am a writer”, aloud.

I don’t know how to answer the question without reaching once again into the past. The past connects to the now, and to the future. Writing, for me, has always been a saving, a healing, a relationship. The  I who wrote and the I who was written to – were best friends. Sisters even. Companions when I was lonely, a confidante when I was troubled and sad, even an antagonist when I was angry with myself. So I had this dialogue with my alternate self on my pages. That way I wasn’t alone. I still don’t feel alone because I always have my self on the page.

I have a metaphorical soul mate in my alternate character:  the writer.

She has been there since the farm, through my years as a student in America, and later as a mom of four, an immigrant, an expat wife in the Middle East, an empty nester, a nomad of sorts since I was seven years old.

Without writing in my journals, (we called them diaries) and making up stories, and novellas – I would have felt even more abandoned, displaced, unfitting.

Can you tell us a bit about your latest book THE STARDUST DIARIES?

When the pandemic started, I was in lockdown in a hotel apartment in Dubai. My children were scattered on three continents, my mom was on the fourth.

During this uncertain, isolated time I started compiling a collection of some of my published work and some new work, as a legacy for my children, close family and friends. A year later, I had moved to Cairo, where I decided to not wait in a world climate that continued to unravel, and where I was ill with long Covid. I proceeded with publishing the collection.

The book is prose and poetry drawing on themes of journeying geographically, but also spiritually, and emotionally. The settings are based in multiple countries. It travels from the Balkans, to North Africa, to Portland, Oregon, then Qatar, Dubai, Bali, and also Cairo. The Stardust Diaries is composed of alternating pieces of prose poetry, flash fiction, vignettes, short stories and concludes with a chapter from my new almost finished novel, The unraveling of Vera Jovanovich.

Most of the pieces collated were published previously in anthologies, online-lit journals, and a collective memoir. Some of the pieces were written during my Creative Writing BA program specifically, new poetry pieces.

Included also, is my Pushcart Prize nominated story The Tea Maker.

What would be your 6-word memoir?

The Unpredictable Unraveling of Zvezdana Rashkovich

What is the best writing advice you’ve ever had, and the worst?

Best advice would be, to write in your own voice, because there is nobody else like you.

The worst advice would probably be, to write only what you know. I find it stifling for the creative mind.

Do you need a special place to write?

No, I write anywhere, but one day, I would love to have my own little writing cottage surrounded by a Ruben-esque garden and a vista of the Adriatic Sea. ☺

Are you part of a writing community or a writing group?

I was a member of Dubai writing group for many years, and after moving to Cairo I formed the Cairo Women’s Writing Group. I am keeping the group intimate and developing it very slowly, due to precautions in gathering, and also due to my health issues. I am planning some online activities in the coming months, which include inviting speakers from various parts of the world.

What is your experience with social media as a writer? Do you find it distracts you or does it provide inspiration?

I love social media for writers. It can drain you if you aren’t careful, however, you can discipline yourself into how, when, how much and who. It’s a brilliant universe filled with inspiring creatives and connections.

I met many of my writer friends via these platforms, and have collaborated with several in podcasts and being offered written work, too. Publishing opportunities in journal anthologies, and updates within publishing, also spring from social media contacts. If you curate your media feed by choosing your sites, contacts and other interests, I think it’s an invaluable resource.

Who are your favorite authors?

Barbara Kingsolver, Lidia Miles, Henrik Sienkiewicz, Zora Neale Hurston, Leila Aboulela, Elif Shafak, Virginia Woolf, Marija Juric Zagorka, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and so many others! I am an eclectic reader and magical realism, historical fiction, braided writing and Bildungsroman are my favorite genres.

What are you reading currently?

I am reading The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak, and Never Split the Difference by Chriss Voss, and am always re-reading academic writing books from my huge pile. Over the past several years I have been drawn to nonfiction rather than fiction. Perhaps, because I spend so much time writing fiction, lyrical poetry, and spinning imaginary word worlds, with nonfiction, I can relax – because on some level it has a grounding effect. Academic texts, in particular, anchor my mind in facts, and keep me in the present.

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Zvezdana Rashkovich is a Pushcart Prize nominated author, poet, meditation teacher, and writing mentor. Her culturally diverse background has made her inquisitive about stories and the hero/heroine myths that connect us all. She is a member of the Association of Conscious and Creative Writers and Society for Leadership and Success. Her work has been published worldwide in literary journals and anthologies both online and in print. She is passionate about the power of words and their transformative power, especially in the context of releasing and healing negative emotions.

Find her on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/zrashkovich

STARDUST DIARIES, Zvezdana Rashkovich

Zvezdana takes the reader from the legendary Balkans to an immigrant’s experience in America, from a sudanese ghetto to busy Cairo streets and the mirage of Dubai.

This book is imbued in one women’s journey of self-discovery through poetry and prose by writing from heart, by unravelling, and painting the world in boldly colored stories.

Praise for The Stardust Diaries

“A mosaic of flash prose and poetry, Stardust Diaries evokes exotic landscapes and homey grandmother’s kitchens, moving effortlessly from country to country and the inner to the outer world. Moments of beauty on every page–this is one to keep by your bedside and dive in for a moment when your imagination needs to fly and your heart needs a powerful moment.”  Allison Williams

“Reading this book was like finding serene ponds, a bowl of ice cream, evolutions of women’s lives. I enjoyed it thoroughly and could not put it down. It is captivating and soothing with numerous standout pieces. It surprised me and reminded me of the pleasures of reading. Such a generous writer with talent and the instinct to celebrate life despite its hardships! The book ends with an extract from her forthcoming novel, which promises to be an exciting, mature work.” Leila Aboulela

BUY HERE

 

 

 

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Interviews, On Writing