Sarah Z. Sleeper Interview - Gaijin ~ JeanBookNerd

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Sarah Z. Sleeper is an ex-journalist with an MFA in creative writing. Gaijin is her first novel. Her short story, “A Few Innocuous Lines,” won an award from Writer’s Digest. Her non-fiction essay, “On Getting Vivian,” was published in The Shanghai Literary Review. Her poetry was published in A Year in Ink, San Diego Poetry Annual and Painters & Poets, and exhibited at the Bellarmine Museum. In the recent past she was an editor at New Rivers Press, and editor-in-chief of the literary journal Mason’s Road. She completed her MFA at Fairfield University in 2012. Prior to that she had a twenty-five-year career as a business writer and technology reporter and won three journalism awards and a fellowship at the National Press Foundation.

What inspired you to write Gaijin?
My inspiration for stories comes from many places, experiences, observations and emotions. In this case, it’s fair to say that the four years I lived and worked in Japan were the origin of the novel. Some of the scenes in the book came directly from my own daily life there, for instance when a teenager tried to kick me off my bike and yelled “Gaijiní” at me. I incorporated that moment into the book because it was so shocking and dramatic. And when a kid grabs the protagonist’s hair in the airport, that happened to me too, but in a museum. At times I felt like a gaijin in Japan—an unwanted foreigner—but I also had many wonderful moments there. It was cultural immersion because I worked for an English-language magazine covering local stories, especially those that included both Americans and Japanese people. That was the focus of the magazine, cultural exchange. In doing my job and living my daily life, I witnessed street protests, when locals protested the presence of American military. I got a good feel for the nature of relations between the Japanese and the Americans, and also for relations between Japanese and Okinawans, who are sometimes discriminated against by mainlanders. Anyway, this is a long answer, but the gist is that my experiences in Japan served as inspiration for the novel. But my character, Lucy, is definitely not me. She’s much more naïve and has a much harder time in Japan than I did.

Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?
I don’t mean to sound flip, but EVERYTHING influences my writing. From personal experiences to everything I see, hear and feel, to visual art, to music, and of course my favorite authors. I love Louise Erdrich, Alice Munro, Donna Tart and so many others. Nabokov was a huge influence too because I admire his lyrical, descriptive prose so very much. I read and write poetry as well as fiction and especially love prose that feels poetic.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
Honestly, getting to do interviews like this is so much fun and so rewarding. I thought I wouldn’t like to do interviews, but I do! It’s a true pleasure to be able to talk about Gaijin and about the writing process. You’re a book nerd and so am I! There’s nothing else I’d rather talk about. So, thank you for inviting me to have this conversation.

Can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about Gaijin?
The Japanese word gaijin means “unwelcome foreigner.” It’s not profanity, but is a slur directed at non-Japanese people. The protagonist is Lucy and she’s a budding journalist at Northwestern University. She’s also a bit obsessed with an exotic new student, Owen Ota, who becomes her lover and her sensei. He disappears without explanation and she’s devastated and sets out to find him. On her three-month quest across Japan, she finds only snippets of the elegant culture Owen had described. Instead she faces anti-U.S. protests, menacing street thugs and sexist treatment, and she winds up at the base of Mt. Fuji, in the terrifying Suicide Forest. Gaijin is a coming-of-age story about a woman who solves a heartbreaking mystery that alters the trajectory of her life.

What part of Lucy did you enjoy writing the most?
I enjoyed trying to show the true aspects of her character. It’s a challenge to ensure your characters behave in ways that are true to their emotional and psychological makeup. I tried to write Lucy as kind, naïve, strong and stubborn. That was a difficult process but also enjoyable.

If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it be and why?
I’d introduce Lucy not to a character from a book, but to a person from a real-life band. I’d have her meet Jungkook of the Korean band BTS and would hope they could date! Any woman her age would want to date him, or any member of that band. 😊

What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives?
Volunteer. Go to a community group who needs help and do what you can. Feed the hungry, sort books for the library, deliver pet food to those who can’t afford it. Activities like these puts one’s own life into perspective and spurs gratitude in the spirit. (But I think people should volunteer many more times than just once.)

TEN QUOTES FROM GAIJIN

1. “Love, tea and flowers. Impermanent, transcendent.”
2. “A person or a memory can sit inside you and you might have no choice about it.”
3. “He etched himself into the side of my neck and he took root in the pit of my stomach.”
4. “And as I ventured further, in my quest to discover Owen’s fate, I realized I might not be able to find him before Japan chased me out, like the gaijin I was, a foreigner, unwelcomed by my adopted country.”
5. “Divorce Rock. Suicide Forest. None of this had been in any history book I’d read.”
6. “Rose texted me. ‘Perverts on trains? LOL! Amused at the drama of my reaction to Owen, she strained not to let out a guffaw.”
7. “His vanishing could be undone, he could come back, or I could go there, not like my father who was nowhere or somewhere I couldn’t access.”
8. “Shadows and fuzzy shapes shifted in and out of focus and from this vantage point, outside looking in, I swear I heard the trees hiss dire warnings.”
9. “As I reached toward the door handle, Midori Ishikori appeared in front of me. Her image was plastered on the side of the Okinawa Week building, the words “F--- Off Americans!’ scrawled across the bottom.”
10. “I pondered the question for a moment, inhaled a noseful of tangy white wine and said, “To be honest, there’s nowhere I’ve been in a month that doesn’t seem like another planet.”

What event in your life would make a good movie?
Honestly, my life has been interesting. Lots of wild ups and downs, including BIG family drama. My family-of-origin story would make a good movie, full of heartbreak and redemption. Also, my adoption story—I adopted a Chinese girl when she was ten and I was forty-eight. She’s now eighteen. That’s a compelling story too. And, I may be biased, but I think Gaijin would make a great movie. It contains lots of cinematic scenes, in my honest opinion.

What was the best memory you ever had as a writer?
The first time I was paid for my writing, in 1992, that was an amazing feeling. After that, the two years I spent doing my MFA, from 2010 to 2012. Those were magical years. I felt so lucky, like I finally had keys to the mysterious world of literary writing. I made amazing lifelong friends and found writing mentors I cherish. Those years literally changed my life.

Where can readers find you?
www.SarahZSleeper.com And, you can find my book in any bookstore, but why not buy it at www.BookShop.org, because it benefits independent booksellers?

Also, you can find me at the Rancho Santa Fe Library. I write a newspaper column about the library and am there often (when there’s not a pandemic).

The Japanese word gaijin means "unwelcome foreigner." It's not profanity, but is sometimes a slur directed at non-Japanese people in Japan. My novel is called Gaijin...

Lucy is a budding journalist at Northwestern University and she's obsessed with an exotic new student, Owen Ota, who becomes her lover and her sensei. When he disappears without explanation, she's devastated and sets out to find him. On her three-month quest across Japan she finds only snippets of the elegant culture Owen had described. Instead she faces anti-U.S. protests, menacing street thugs and sexist treatment, and she winds up at the base of Mt. Fuji, in the terrifying Suicide Forest. Will she ever find Owen? Will she be driven back to the U.S.? Gaijin is a coming-of-age story about a woman who solves a heartbreaking mystery that alters the trajectory of her life.

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