Babak Lakghomi
Where I write when I am trying to write and don’t end up writing in the living room or in the bed. A lot of the stickers and pins above my desk make fun of my reading habits and were given to me by friends over years. My favourite one says “I’d rather be READING.”
What is your best piece of work?
I don’t know about being my best, but I think this story called What She Could Not Make published at New York Tyrant Magazine in 2020 is one of the stories that somewhat captures what I try to achieve in my work.
https://magazine.nytyrant.com/what-she-could-not-make-babak/
What music have you been listening to lately?
I’ve been listening to music much less and listening more to podcasts and audiobooks. But some musicians I’ve been listening to recently include Brad Mehldau and Kayhan Kalhor.
Who is the last character you related to and why?
I have started listening to audiobooks of Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels in the last couple of months. I guess when something is so popular, I am doubtful that it will interest me, and maybe that’s why I hadn’t read her books for so long. Interestingly, I have related a lot to the main character, Elena. Her curiosity, her interest in learning, her inwardness, and her way of finding her way in the world reminds me a lot of myself in my early youth.
Have you ever failed at something you care about?
Probably everyday I fail at something I care about, some days the scale of failure seems larger, but I guess we learn to live with our small and big failures.
How much vitamin D do you take?
Not enough.
Last gift you received?
I received a gold coloured paperweight in the shape of a whale several days ago.
Favourite photo?
I like the photos in this series by Sally Mann, and this one is one of my favourites:
https://www.sallymann.com/new-gallery-3/h1lgo4594z4kvqj44ayjd4mdunc3mc
Best season?
Summer. I am a different person with the sun around, and love camping and swimming in the lakes.
Do you like to write in the morning or at night?
I love writing early in the morning, that blurry space between dream and consciousness. The bruised sky, the quietness slowly giving way to noises.
What do you consider to be your first rejection?
Not the first, but one that I will always remember. We went to see a family friend of ours who had a daughter my age. I was probably around 5 years old. We used to get along so well before that whenever we were together, but she behaved like a complete stranger that day, playing with the kids on the street only, and ignoring my presence. I sat there by the curb watching them play for a while, watching stray dogs, then I went upstairs and sat with our parents. She did not come back up for a very long time.
Where is the best place?
An onsen or a hot spring after a long hike on a cold day.
What’s an example of a good ending?
I love the ending of Wittgenstein’s Mistress by David Markson. The novel is funny and mentally stimulating with all its leaps, divergences, and repetitions, but the ending makes everything fall into place; the form is suddenly justified, and it’s one of the most poignant endings I can think of.
Latest book you’ve read or favourite book ever?
A recent read that made an impression on me was The Beetle Leg by John Hawkes. Hawkes is known for his challenging of the conventions of fiction (plot, character, etc.), and this is his second book which he wrote when he was 24. The quality of his prose and the abstract sense of fear and disaster generated in this short novel is really strong.
I am currently reading The Swann’s Way and Marta Balcewicz’s Big Shadow and I have been enjoying both so far.
Anything you’d like to promote?
I have a new book coming out this August from Dundurn Press which I am pretty excited about. South is a surreal novel following the journey of a freelance journalist through a desert and an oil rig that leads him to captivity and insanity. I recommend it to fans of Kafka, David Lynch, Anna Kavan’s Ice, and Jesse Ball’s novels. Here is a link to my website where you can learn more about it.
Babak Lakghomi is the author of South (forthcoming from Dundurn Press, 2023) and Floating Notes (Tyrant Books, 2018). His fiction has appeared in American Short Fiction, NOON, Ninth Letter, New York Tyrant, and The Adroit Journal, among other places. Babak was born in Tehran, Iran, and currently lives and writes in Toronto.
