Featured Writer: Ayelet Tsabari
On creating space to write and writing advice.
Welcome to Women Writing!
About the author…
Ayelet Tsabari is the author of Songs for the Brokenhearted, winner of a National Jewish Book Award for fiction and the Association of Jewish Libraries Fiction Award. Her memoir, The Art of Leaving, was a finalist for the Writer’s Trust Hilary Weston Prize and The Vine Awards, winner of the Canadian Jewish Literary Award for memoir, and an Apple Books and Kirkus Review Best Book of 2019. Her first book, the story collection The Best Place on Earth, won the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, and the Edward Lewis Wallant Award for Jewish Fiction. The book was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and was nominated for The Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. She’s the co-editor of the award-winning anthology Tongues: On Longing and Belonging Through Language. Ayelet teaches creative writing at The University of King’s College MFA and at Guelph MFA in Creative Writing
On a writing routine …
My writing routine changes often. It depends at what stage of a project I'm in, what time of the semester it is, whether I received a grant etc. I love writing in the mornings, and when I'm close to a deadline, where it is imposed by a publisher or myself, I wake up at 5am to write before my daughter wakes up and some of my best writing happens during those early hours. After she goes to school, I exercise and either go back to writing or start doing other work - reading students' work, plan classes, do some admin (emails, promotional stuff, etc.)
“The best writing advice I ever received was from my teacher Betsy Warland. She told me that if you feel fear while writing, it usually means you're on the right track.”
On writing spaces …
I love writing at my own desk at home. I like the comfort of my own space, my standing desk, the proximity of my bed and my kitchen. When I'm really close to a deadline, I take my computer everywhere and might work while waiting to pick up my kid from gymnastics or while waiting for a doctor.
On writing communities …
Being a part of a writing community has always been really important to me. I remember when I first joined SFU's Writer's Sudio many years ago, I was elated. I told my partner that I found my people. They could chat with me about POV and semicolons and we're invested in each other's work. My writing peers have helped me in too many ways to count, from commenting on my work, to helping with connections in the industry, or simply listening when things are rough. Writing is such a solitary thing so having a community is special to me.
On challenges …
Being a mother changed everything for me. With my first book, while doing my MFA, I could sit for hours and write, uninterrupted, eat at my desk in my pajamas. With the next two books it was much more challenging. Every now and then, thanks to my amazing, supportive partner, I go for a short, intensive retreat for myself, usually house sitting or pet sitting for friends for a night or two. These little retreats proved invaluable.
On the best writing advice …
The best writing advice I ever received was from my teacher Betsy Warland. She told me that if you feel fear while writing, it usually means you're on the right track. I've paid forward this wisdom onto many students since. The one I regularly remind myself is allow myself to write badly. That's what revision is for.
On the worst writing advice …
I don't know if it was a writing advice or more of a publishing advice. But twice I was told not to shoot too high, in so many words. Once, I was told not to send my writing to contests because chances are slim. I did not listen and won that contest. Another mentor once told me that I shouldn't submit my first book to a big publisher because they won't publish short stories. I did anyway and they published it.
On advice from personal experiences …
To shoot for the stars! Men often do.
On rekindling creativity …
Walking is amazing for this. I have solved several writing problems by taking a walk. Sometimes I bring a notebook along and write while walking! Reading is also a great source of inspiration. I have stopped reading and rushed to my desk to write before.
On a recent publication …
Songs for the Brokenhearted is my first novel and third book. It came out in fall 2024. It's a book about my Yemeni Jewish community, about mothers and daughters and about the loves, heartache and songs of Yemeni Jewish women. I currently work on a book of essays.
Ayelet’s online spaces …
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Happy writing!
I just attended the virtual AWP conference. There was a great panel on Israeli-Hebrew fiction, which included Ayelet Tsabari. She is such a good writer and I really appreciated her reflections on place and displacement —my words, not hers—in her writing.