Growing up Lebanese and writing for a new audience with Sarah Ayoub

Better Words

Sarah Ayoub is a journalist, bestselling author and academic with a PhD in migrant Australian YA literature. She is a Stella Schools Program ambassador, has mentored the youth curators of The Sydney Writers' Festival YA program, contributed to the anthology Arab, Australian, Other: Stories on Race and Identity and most recently been a judge for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Sarah was elected to the board of the Australian Society of Authors in 2021 and is currently working on her first novel for adults as the writer-in-residence of Sweatshop Literacy Movement. She regularly appears at writers festivals and schools, discussing her novels Hate is Such a Strong Word and The Yearbook Committee. We are discussing her debut picture book, The Love that Grew, and new YA novel inspired by her PhD research called The Cult of Romance.

Our interview begins at 00:11:30

Caitlin recommends: The Yearbook by Holly Bourne

An engrossing contemporary YA novel exploring high school and how we remember it.

Michelle recommends: The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

A slow-burning mystery about mysterious disappearances from an off-shore lighthouse in the 1970s.

In this interview, we chat about:

• How Sarah's experiences visiting Lebanon influenced Natalie's story in The Cult of Romance
• Why do people get married young?
• Positioning older YA/New Adult books in the market
• Sarah's choice to move away from writing YA novels
• Sarah's first picture book, The Love That Grew
• How Sarah came to write her first novel, Hate is Such a Strong Word
• Why feature writing is still Sarah's first love
• Sarah's study into multiculturalism in Australian YA and how The Cult of Romance developed as part of her PhD

Books and other things mentioned:

• The Handover by David M Barnett (Michelle originally recommended here)
• History Extra: The Mystery of the Vanishing Lighthouse Keepers
• It Only Happens in the Movies, Pretending and How Do You Like Me Now? by Holly Bourne
• Shameless Podcast asks "How much have you changed in 5 years?" (here's the ep)
• Loner by Georgina Young
• Libby Lawrence is Good at Pretending by Jodi McAlister
• Does My Head Look Big In This? by Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah
• Laurinda by Alice Pung

Follow Sarah on Instagram @bysarahayoub

The Cult of Romance is available now.

Connect with us on Instagram: @betterwordspod

Please note that we choose podcast guests independently of Caitlin's job at HarperCollins Publishers. Although her job does help put us in touch with authors, we choose our guests based on what we've enjoyed reading and think you'd find interesting.