Episode 198 with Sarah Thankam Mathews, Master of the Visceral and Rational, Beautiful Sentence and Sentiment Creator, and Author of 2022’s National Book Award Shortlisted All This Could Be Different

Notes and Links to Sarah Thankam Mathews’ Work

   

   For Episode 198, Pete welcomes Sarah Thankam Mathews, and the two discuss, among other topics, her early reading and writing and experience with multilingualism, contemporary and not-so contemporary writers who left an imprint on her with their visceral work and distinctive worldbuilding, “seeds and fertilizer” for her standout novel, including the vagaries of post-college life and the tragedies and communal love that came with the COVID pandemic, and pertinent themes in her book, like alienation, sexual trauma, “found family” and community building, and problematic capitalism.

 

 

   Sarah Thankam Mathews grew up between Oman and India, immigrating to the US at seventeen. She is author of the novel All This Could Be Different, shortlisted for the 2022 National Book Award and the 2022 Discover Prize, nominated for the Aspen Literary Prize.

Formerly a Rona Jaffe Fellow in fiction at the Iowa Writer's Workshop, and a Margins Fellow at The Asian American Writers Workshop, she has work in Best American Short Stories 2020 and other places. A proud product of public schools, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Buy All This Could Be Different

 

Sarah's Website

 

Sarah's Substack

 

Review of All This Could Be Different from Los Angeles Review of Books

At about 1:35, Sarah discusses her current paperback tour and what she’s heard about the book from readers and observations she has after a year of publication for All This Could Be Different

 

At about 4:50, Sarah gives background on her early relationship with languages, particularly Hindi, English, and Mayalalam

 

At about 7:30, Sarah discusses early reading that was influenced by living in what she calls a “tertiary” book market; she mentions transformational and formational books like The Bluest Eye and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things as books that left her “profoundly rearranged”

 

At about 10:20, Sarah shouts out Jamaica Kincaid’s Luck as a helpful companion as she wrote All This Could Be Different

 

At about 12:20, Sarah responds to Pete’s question about how Sarah saw her early reading in terms of representation; she points to ideas of visceral pleasure with that reading  

 

At about 14:20, Sarah expands on ideas of pathos as a driving force at times as she wrote her book

 

At about 15:30, Sarah cites C Pam Zhang, Isle McElroy, Lydia Kiesling,  as some of the many contemporary writers who she admires and is thrilled by

 

At about 17:45, Sarah coins the cool term “proprietary physics” and how Lydia Kiesling exemplifies the phrase

 

At about 19:15, Sarah highlights Cohen’s The Netanyahus and Homeland Elegies from Ayad Akhtar

 

At about 20:15, Sarah drops a haunting and amazing fact about publishing from 9/11

 

At about 20:40, Sarah provides seeds for the book, both in the immediate past and the thought process from the more distant past

 

At about 23:20, Sarah talks about Bed Stuy Strong, a mutual aid organization she started in 2020, and how the “seeds and fertilizer” for the book came from this time 

 

At about 29:10, Pete lays out the book’s exposition and Sarah responds to why she chose to set the book in 2012 or so

 

At about 32:30, The two discuss the book’s pivot point, which happened before the book’s main chronology; Sarah expands on the ways in which Sarah’s relationships and ethic and view on her previous life in India come from this pivotal and traumatic event

 

At about 37:30, Sarah speaks to the importance of Milwaukee and its history and her knowledge of it, and why she made the setting what it was 

 

At about 42:10, Sarah responds to Pete’s asking about Sneha’s complicated relationship with her parents

 

At about 46:30, Sarah talks about the “absolutely bonkers act” that leads to a misunderstanding between Marina and the smitten Sneha

 

At about 49:40, Sarah gives background on Sneha’s boss and how his character evolved in her various drafts

 

At about 51:15, The two discuss the idea of “The Pink House” and its significance

 

At about 54:00, Sarah discusses her book as a coming of age story and her desire to portray deep friendships and love

 

At about 58:40, Pete notes the success of the well-drawn flashbacks and flashforwards and fanboys over the fabulous and eminently memorable last scene and last line of the book, and Sarah describes what the “page [was] revealing to her” as the book’s ending morphed

 

At about 1:02:05, Sarah discuss the book as (perhaps subtly) hopeful

 

At about 1:03:10, Pete asks Sarah about future projects

 

At about 1:04:00, Sarah drops some important insights that are useful advice for young (and old) writers

 

At about 1:04:50, Sarah shares contact info, social media, and bookstores where to buy her book, including The Word is Change in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn

   You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I’m @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I’m @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you’re checking out this episode.

   Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl

    Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!

   NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast

   This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I’d love for your help in promoting what I’m convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.

   The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.

   Please tune in for Episode 199 with Jared Beloff. He is the author of Who Will Cradle Your Head and the microchap This is how we say “I love you.” He is also a peer reviewer for The Whale Road Review, and his work has been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize.

   The episode will air on August 15.