Brown Don't Frown Podcast

Season 6: Ep 41 - In conversation with Sairish Hussain on finding inspiration, original storytelling and navigating the publishing industry

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Episode notes

The first guest of season 6 is Sairish Hussain, author of ‘The Family Tree’ and ‘Hidden Fires’. Sairish shares her writing journey and the inspirations behind the characters and plots in both of her novels. We also discuss the depiction of negative South Asian and Muslim stereotypes in popular culture and how she has defied these narratives in her stories as well as the importance of authenticity and originality.

Diversity in publishing has been a longstanding and ongoing conversation. We look at Sairish’s experience of navigating the world of publishing and discuss the progress that has been made since the publication of her debut novel in 2020, including what more could be done, moving beyond tokenism and quotas.

Sairish also shares some thoughts and advice for aspiring writers and academics, as well as her future hopes and aspirations.

You can find copies of both of her novels ‘The Family Tree’ and ‘Hidden Fires’ online or in most bookstores.

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