Interview with Sougand Akbarian, The Author of SouganDilli

Ravi: Tell me About Yourself?

Sougand Akbarian: This is Sougand Akbarian, an Iranian translator and author. I am a bestselling translator in Iran of Indian literature into Farsi (Persian). I have been to India many

times and especially to Delhi as a traveler and interpreter, that is the reason I decided

to write my travelogue in English language based on my Delhi travel as SouganDilli

which also made me the bestseller author as well. I am also a researcher and scholar in

Translation Studies and I already presented and published my papers and articles in

national and international conferences in Iran and India. I am currently based in Iran.

I have completed my Masters in English Language, Translation Studies.

Ravi: What’s your favorite short story?

Sougand: Obviously short stories in my mother tongue, Farsi, that are so many.

Ravi: The Best piece of writing advice?

Sougand: Read a lot to write well.

Ravi: Where do you write?

Sougand: The best place in the age of technology is e-paper so, I write on my laptop.

Ravi: Where do you get your ideas?

Sougand: By the people around me, because each person is a story so an author should

narrate it interestingly.

Ravi: Does writing energize or exhaust you?

Sougand: Writing is not only my career as a translator and author but also my passion,

so there is no doubt it always energizes me.

Ravi: How long on average does it take you to write a book?

Sougand: It depends on the plot and the time you put, but at the minimum, I can say

about a year.

Ravi: If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer

as an adult, what would you do?

Sougand: I do not have any regret about the past, I just wish I had more than 24 hours

per day to read and write more.

Ravi: What is your favorite childhood book?

Sougand: All the stories that my God on the earth, my mom narrated to me in Farsi.

Ravi: What are your favorite literary journals?

Sougand: It depends on the topics they cover as my favorite which are about literature,

translation, and tourism within the literature in Farsi and English.

Ravi: What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

Sougand: Well, I think there is nothing to give up, I just wish to make a day more than

24 hours!

Ravi: What was your hardest scene to write?

Sougand: The hardest scene to write for me, is to find the correct word to convey my

feelings to my readers in the same way as what I really feel.

Ravi: Do you Google yourself?

Sougand: After my debut book as an author in English, SouganDilli, so sometimes!

Ravi: Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?

Sougand: There is nothing to hide, when you read SouganDilli you should feel it to

come to the soul I wanted to convey.

Ravi: Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

Sougand: Obviously yes. Because there is a relation between authors and readers about

any book. Good ones are the ones to give an author courage and motivation to write

more for dear readers, and about bad ones before showing any reaction, an author

should see is that right or no? because maybe there is a shortcoming in the work and an

author should correct it for the better works in future.

Ravi: Have you read anything that made you think differently about fiction?

Sougand: The recent book by my Indian Publisher, Mr. Chandar Kant Jaisansaria, I

Miss You Love. This is a great book in horror fiction.

Ravi: What did you edit out of this book?

Sougand: All I wrote are needed so there is nothing to edit out or omit.

Ravi: How many hours a day do you write?

Sougand: Minimum of 8 hours as per office work.

Ravi: How long were you a part-time writer before you became a full-time one?

Sougand: From the beginning of my journey as a full-time author, I was and I am a

full-time translator as well.

Ravi: What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before

beginning a book?

Sougand: Each book even a novel is a piece of information. So if I have doubt or less

knowlge or even no correct knowledge about anything, I will research till I get it fully,

and then I will convey it within my books. Because authors should give correct

information to their readers.

Ravi: What’s the best way to market your books?

Sougand: Keep in touch with your readers.

Ravi: How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

Sougand: Long list… soon I will announce them finishes and published as a translator

and an author, hopefully.

Ravi: How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?

Sougand: Happy to see my first book not in my mother tongue, Farsi, and out of my

motherland, Iran, in fact in English and in India and all over the world, got accepted by

my dear international readers, and they like to read more books by me. That is why I

started to write more books as an author after SouganDilli.

Ravi: What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better

writer?

Sougand: Well, I have some Indian authors as my friends. As Chandra Kant

Jaisansaria, Damini Aggarwal, and others. The best way of helping each other as an

author is to read each other’s work and share our feedback.

Ravi: Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?

Sougand: I can say a mixture of both, to meet my author’s needs and my readers’

needs.

Ravi: What advice do you have for writers?

Sougand: Keep reading, keep writing by now. Just bring your thoughts on the paper

then you already did the first step which is the hardest one.

Ravi: What are the most important magazines for writers to subscribe to?

Sougand: That is something based on different tastes and choices, all I can say is read

about the topics you like to write more about.

Ravi: Tell me about your recent book to our Ravi Reads Blog Readers?

Sougand: SouganDilli – Indo-Iranian Adhuri Kahani (An incomplete Indo-Iranian story) Is an

illustrated book in RomTravel (Romance + Travel) genre by an Iranian girl. It is based

on my Dill travel and my travelogue in the heart and capital of India, Dilli. That is why I kept the letter D in the capital, SouganDilli.

Anyone’s life can change with a small incident forever. My life also changed, it has got a

new and special color after my first travel to India and especially to Delhi (Dilli). My

story, the SouganDevraj love story (Sougand & Devraj) is an Indo-Iranian story.

Maybe this is rummy and strange to you, as there is no space between the names of

These two persons and D is in common. Well, the D of Dilli is the end of SouganD and

the beginning of Devraj! This book is more than just a genre. SouganDilli, is a love

story, a novel which is a Safar Namah (Travelogue) of an Iranian girl in Delhi, India. A

book that in many aspects is a real story.

To Know more about Sougand's SouganDilli check out this link

Thanks to Sougand Akbarian for agreeing to this interview! If you know of an author who’d like to be featured in an interview (or you are an author who would like to be featured), feel free to email me at the address on my contact page.