Interview with Asale Angel-Ajani

A few years ago I got the chance to read Asale Angel-Ajani’s (then-unpublished) debut novel, A Country You Can Leave, and fell in love: the oh so memorable characters, its rich setting, how it’s smart, gripping, and important all at once. The novel has everything I want in a story— sharp but beautiful prose, intelligence and emotional resonance. It made me laugh and broke my heart. 

The story follows sixteen-year-old Lara, a Black, biracial teen, and her fierce mother, Yevgenia, a Russian immigrant, as they move to a trailer park in the Californian desert. It’s a tale of yearning and survival that deftly examines race, gender, class, and privilege.

I immediately preordered it. Then I got the opportunity to interview Asale for The Millions (it’ll be live this week!), and because her publicist is lovely and sent me a finished copy, I have an extra book. So, let’s do a giveaway! Winner will be chosen at random, and you can enter by either liking this post, commenting, or reaching out directly to let me know you’re interested by Sunday, March 12th. 

And onto the interview! 

Photo credit: Sylvie Rosokoff

Did you ever doubt this book would be published? 

Before writing my novel, I had published a work of narrative nonfiction that was out on submission when the markets crashed in 2008 (or so) and everyone in publishing was rolling up their carpets and shuttering their windows. I managed to sell the nonfiction but it was brutal and frankly, the worst publishing experience, in nearly every way possible. The editor* at the press didn’t let me have any say on the title or the cover (and I hated both) and my agent told me she never sold a book for so little. I felt like a failure. It took me years to recover. When I started writing again, this time my novel, I went back to my agent who I had known for 15 years and liked very much, and shared an early draft with her. She didn’t read it. For nearly a year. Eventually, she gave it to an intern to read, but in my mind, I was done, but I didn’t have the courage to walk away.

Thankfully, I spoke to a friend of mine who is also a writer and she told me I had to find a new agent, so I did, eventually. It's hard to find an agent and so when you get one you think the tides will change, and in my case, I wasted so much time waiting on the agent that I had even though I knew she wasn't really as supportive as I needed her to be. 

But the short answer was yes, every day I worried about the book getting published and published in a way that wouldn’t damage my sense of self. 

*This editor is no longer in traditional publishing but does run a fee-based writing coach service... so writers (be) aware

Do you have any tips or tricks for staying motivated? 

Staying motivated to write for me is about taking the pressure off. When I can turn off the idea that a piece has to be liked by some random person out in the world, or even better, that it doesn’t have to be “liked” even by me, it liberates me. If it’s a question of me not wanting to get to a piece, feeling exhausted, I try to understand if it's real or if it’s just masking something else. Usually, I am unmotivated because of fear. I love writing—it’s the only time I feel like I have access to myself. 

Any reading recommendations? 

There are so many books and excellent pieces to read! Which is great but also scary because I feel like something good will get lost. Right now I am trying to catch up on books I wanted to read while I was writing my novel—so I am reading Wanda Coleman’s The Riot Inside Me. Coleman was known as the “unofficial poet laureate of Los Angeles.” I am also reading Ross Gay’s latest essay collection, Inciting Joy, which is as one can imagine, complex and charming (I am trying to stay away from the word joyful). Finally, I am reading (and sometimes re-reading) because it's slim and surprising and so good— A Woman’s Battles and Transformations by Edouard Louis. 

Thank you, Asale!