Sarah Thankam Mathews
Born
Bangalore, India
Notable work"All This Could Be Different"

Sarah Thankam Mathews is an Indian-American author, novelist, and organizer. Her debut novel, All This Could Be Different, was a finalist for the 2022 National Book Award for Fiction.

Personal life

Mathews was born in Bangalore, India to Malayali parents.[1] Her parents quickly moved with her to Muscat, Oman where she was raised in a tight-knit Indian enclave.[1]

She moved to Wisconsin with her family when she was 17.[1][2][3] She was a member of the class of 2017 at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[4] At Madison, she served as president of the Wisconsin Union Directorate.[5][6] She lived in Milwaukee from 2013-2014.[7]

Mathews began her career in progressive politics at a public-affairs firm in Washington D.C.[8] She quit her job to pursue an MFA in writing.[8] After receiving her MFA, she worked many freelance jobs in New York City, including in graphic design, web design, project management, freelance writing, and as a personal assistant.[8][9] She lost work and income when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, causing her to go on unemployment and putting her process of becoming a naturalized US citizen at risk.[8] It was during this time that she wrote her debut novel and began a mutual-aid organization—at the same time.[8]

She currently lives in Brooklyn and considers Kerala to be her ancestral home.[1]

Writing career

In 2020, Mathews was a Margins Fellow at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop and a Rona Jaffe Fellow at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.[10][2] She also received The Best American Short Stories 2020 award.[11][10] She worked on a novel for seven years—which she used for her MFA thesis—and ultimately put it aside.[8][1] She now calls it "Novel Zero."[1] The next novel she worked on, All This Could Be Different, became her debut novel and was published in 2022.[8]

All This Could Be Different

In 2022, she published her debut novel All This Could Be Different. The novel was received with critical acclaim and was a finalist in the 2022 National Book Awards.[2][12] Mathews did not receive the award, which has never been won by a South Asian author.[1]

The novel centers a South Asian queer protagonist who is navigating love, friendship, and career in Milwaukee during the Great Recession and the Obama presidency.[2][13][14] Elements of it reflect the author's own life as a queer South Asian immigrant to the US.[15]

Mathews began writing the novel in the summer 2020 when she was 29 years old and surviving on unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] She wrote it at the same time that she was launching a mutual aid organization called Bed-Stuy Strong.[8][1] She completed the novel in 4 months, found an agent in November 2020, and sold it at auction.[8][1]

Organizing

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mathews helped to create Bed-Stuy Strong, a grassroots mutual-aid organization that raised $1.2 million to serve its Brooklyn-based community.[10] She came up with the idea when talking with her neighbor, a native of Bedford-Stuyvesant while COVID-19 cases and quarantines were just beginning to spike in the US.[8] She began organizing by creating a Slack network which she marketed through neighborhood flyers.[8]

The organization ultimately helped 28,000 people living in Brooklyn who were suffering from food crisis during the pandemic.[10][1] The organization's primary aid service was grocery delivery.[10][1]

Published works

  • (2018) The Love Song of G. Madhvi Suresh. Platypus Press Shorts.
  • (2022) All This Could Be Different. New York: Viking. ISBN 978-0-593-48912-3

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 P, Jinoy Jose (2022-10-18). "'Same-sex love has always existed, and it is a part of life'". frontline.thehindu.com. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kumar, Arun (2022-10-11). "Sarah Thankam Mathews among 2022 National Book Awards finalists". The American Bazaar. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  3. ↑ "Pride Spotlight: Sarah Thankam Mathews' Novel and Politics Prove She Believes 'All This Could Be Different'". Observer. 2022-06-17. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  4. ↑ Provost, Megan. "The Roaring Twenties | On Wisconsin". Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  5. ↑ Mathews, Sarah Thankam. "This Land Is Our Land, Donald Trump". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  6. ↑ "New officers and directors share why WUD is special | Terrace Views". Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  7. ↑ "Milwaukee stars in National Book Award finalist 'All This Could Be Different'". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2023-04-25.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Gould, Emily (2023-01-26). "Sarah Thankam Mathews Wrote Her Hit Novel in Four Months". Vulture. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  9. ↑ Legaspi, Althea (2022-08-07). "How the Pandemic Allowed One Author to Affect Change in Her Community and Reinvent Her Debut Novel". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Sarah Thankam Mathews' Debut Novel, 'All This Could Be Different,' Isn't Your Average Coming-of-Age Book". Shondaland. 2022-08-03. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  11. ↑ "Malayali novelist Sarah Thankam Mathews shortlisted for America's prestigious literary prize". OnManorama. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  12. ↑ Briefly reviewed in the September 5, 2022 issue of The New Yorker, p.59.
  13. ↑ "Sarah Thankam Mathews' 6 favorite books about life-changing experiences and self discovery". The Week. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  14. ↑ "Sarah Thankam Mathews Has Written One of the Buzziest, Most Human Novels of the Year". Vogue. 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  15. ↑ "Sara Thankam Mathews' 'All This Could Be Different'". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
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