Author Interview: In Conversation With Sreemay Rath

In conversation with Sreemay Rath, whose latest collection of poems “Covetous” has sold more than 1000 copies in the first three months of its release.

 

Sreemay Rath is a 16-year-old student of Humanities and an author of four books. He is a two-time gold medalist in the International English Olympiad and a Junior Diploma Holder in Literature from the University of Cambridge. His fifth book is due to come out in January 2018, in association with BombayKala Books.

 

QwertyThoughts (QT): How did you begin writing?

Sreemay Rath (SR): I began writing at the age of 10, those days I drew inspiration from Charles Dickens and Roald Dahl.

 

QT :  What’s the most moving or affecting thing a reader has said to you?

SR :  Once a person who happened to have read my work told me, i have the persona and anxiety that John Keats portrayed through this poetry. I was really moved by the gesture. Although I am not even an iota of a maestro that Keats was.

 

QT :  How do you get over writer’s block?

SR :  By listening to music, at times sleeping helps.

 

QT :  Who inspires you the most?

SR :  Slyvia Plath’s terminologies about confessional poetry truly inspire me and give me the confidence to write my mind.





QT :  Apart from writing, what goals do you want to achieve in life?

SR :  Apart from writing, I want to pursue my career as a diplomat.

 

QT :  What’s the last book you read that you loved?

SR :  The last book I read was The Book of Chocolate Saints by Jeet Thayil. It is a breath of fresh air in today’s time.

 

QT :  What is your writing process? And how much time of your day goes into writing?

SR :   I write for about an hour a day and mostly write in between 2 to 4 am in the morning.

 

QT :  What’s the most memorable memory of your journey as a writer?

SR :   I would say, landing a traditional publishing deal with my current publishers who rank right up there as far as achievements are concerned. For a writer, traditional publishing is everything. And for a writer who writes poetry, it is a blessing.






QT :  What was your approach to marketing and how did you go about it?

SR :  I mostly send proposals to leading national newspapers and pages of social media influence as far as marketing is concerned.

 

QT :  What message do you want to share with budding writers and poets?

SR :   Never engage in plagiarism, it doesn’t last very long. Write solely for yourself and do not care what conventional norms ask you to do.