Q&A with Shafaq Khan

 

 

 

Shafaq Khan is the author of the new middle grade novel Zeyna Lost and Found. She is also a lawyer, and she lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Zeyna Lost and Found, and how did you create your character Zeyna?

 

A: Thanks so much for this question! Zeyna Lost and Found is inspired by a trip my mother-in-law took with her family in the ‘70s. My mother-in-law is a first generation British-Pakistani woman and her family traveled to Pakistan from London one summer.

 

Though they had flown there, their return trip was complicated by political tensions, and they had to travel back to London by road. They traveled through many of the cities Zeyna travels through and their trip was safe, eye-opening, and frankly, fun.

 

Just the notion that people could travel so seamlessly because of the Hippie Trail, combined with my mother-in-law’s own reflections on what being in those places was like, inspired me to write this story.

 

There are, of course, other elements to Zeyna’s story. The postcolonial themes and ruminations on belonging are inspired by my experience growing up as a third-culture kid and the action and mystery elements are inspired by my love for suspenseful stories: everything from City Spies to John le Carré.

 

Q: The novel is set in Pakistan in 1970--how important is setting to you in your writing?

 

A: The novel is set in the year 1970 because it was an interesting moment in time for all of the places featured in Zeyna Lost and Found. The 1971 war between Pakistan and modern-day Bangladesh had not broken out yet, countries like Iran and Afghanistan were on the precipice of upheaval and change, South Asian immigrants in England were asserting their place in British society.

 

To me this time period was so important because, while some may romanticize aspects of it, it was actually a complicated time with simmering political tensions often because of socioeconomic unrest (amongst other factors).

 

The trajectory of these nation-states was about to change but before it did, there was this moment, where you could travel and experience different cultures and civic societies, and that really spoke to me.

 

Q: Did you know how the story would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: Broadly speaking yes, but I made many changes along the way! My characters took on a life of their own as I wrote them, processed them, and fleshed out their internal dynamics.

 

I started to understand how the characters would respond in different situations or even how they would answer questions from a reader. The writing process was so immersive, it’s all I could think about and it was also impacted by what I saw, heard, observed along the way.

 

The ending did change in very specific ways as a result, but the zoomed-out version of the ending stayed the same. I knew what I wanted the reader to take away from the story, not just in terms of lessons learned, but also questions that remain and what that might evoke from the reader.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from Zeyna's story?

 

A: I want readers to take away a critical lesson that life is not black and white and the people that are in our lives are also not simply one way or the other.

 

When I look around and see a world where a 20-second reel might be too long to capture someone’s attention or in other instances, enough for another person to form an opinion, I worry about how we internalize information and interactions.

 

Do we try to understand context? Are we seeking nuance? Are we asking ourselves the underlying reasons for what caused an event or made someone behave a certain way? Can we grapple with the reality that no one is the worst moment of their life and that we all make mistakes, but we can address those mistakes, broaden our perspectives, and approach information and interactions with humility? I hope so.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am currently working on a spicy middle grade mystery set in a colorful Pakistani wedding in New Jersey that will give you a flavor of intergenerational drama, young love, and a vicious mystery that is unraveling it all.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Follow me on TikTok, shafaqjk, and Instagram, shafaq_khan_author to learn more about Zeyna Lost and Found and my writing + publishing journey!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb