Writer's Block with Christy Lefteri - The Gloss Magazine

Writer’s Block with Christy Lefteri

Christy Lefteri was born in London to Cypriot refugee parents, a legacy that imbues her best-selling 2019 work The Beekeeper of Aleppo which was in turn inspired by her work at a refugee camp in Athens. Lefteri’s latest book, Songbirds, tells the story of Sri Lankan migrant Nisha who works as a childminder in Cyprus while minding her own daughter throughout the night, via the telephone. Lefteri was moved to write Songbirdshaving read about the plight of Sri Lankan domestic workers who support their families from afar and risk never seeing their loved ones again. Lefteri is now a lecturer at Brunel University London.

ON HOME I live in a flat in Southgate, North London, with my one-year-old Havanese dog, Alfie. My flat is small and cosy. I love it here because it’s a great neighbourhood. There is a row of shops and cafés downstairs and I’ve made so many friends here. I can see my friend Bruno’s café, Cibos, from my living room window. Before lockdown, I used to spend way too much time in there chatting to the neighbours. I wrote some parts of Beekeeper in there too. There’s a really pretty green opposite and further down the road is Broomfield Park where my brother and I had a cherry tree planted for my mum after she died, as she was buried in Cyprus. I walk down to the tree with Alfie almost every day. I love to see how it changes day by day, season by season. On the weekends, Alfie and I go and stay in Walthamstow with my boyfriend. I’ve really got to love that area and feel at home there too. It’s so nice to go for walks in the village or venture into Epping forest which seems endless!

ON ROOTS My parents are both from the north of Cyprus. Although they met in London, my mum says she remembers my dad when he was young, riding his bike through her village. My mum’s mum was a single mother and bought up four children on her own after my grandfather left when my mum was two. My dad’s parents moved to London after the war and had an off-licence in Brixton, then Tottenham. My grandmother died when I was six so I don’t remember her that well, but my dad’s dad was such an inspiration – he lived to 93 and was strong until then. I always thought he was ahead of his time, he hated people who were racist and called them out on it. Once, a burglar came into his shop in Brixton holding a baseball bat, demanding that he open the till. My grandad chased him down the road, caught him, asked him what his father would have thought, and the two became the best of friends from that day on. That’s the kind of man he was.

ON WRITING I have always been writing, since I can remember. I had a teacher when I was nine years old for whom I used to write stories. He told me I would be a writer one day and that I would do a PhD. He was right about both. Writing was a comfort and a challenge. I could make sense of the world when I was writing; writing made me pause and think, it made me feel what others might feel, or understand more deeply what I was feeling.

ON MY DESK My desk is a round glass dining table in the bay window. On it is a plant in a ceramic pot, a Christmas present from my boyfriend, a pink-purple orchid, a birthday present from my friend Nishan and his daughter, Noya, and a cactus which I bought my late mum for her birthday this April. She died in 2008 but on her birthday, I buy her a plant I know she would have loved and light a candle beside it. There is a soft lilac notepad, ready to be filled with notes for my next novel, and a pencil case full of pens and highlighters. On the windowsill is the 2020 Aspen Words Literary prize awarded for The Beekeeper of Aleppo, which both inspires and scares me. Beside me, in his bed, Alfie sleeps.

ON FAMILY I have two brothers – Kyri and Mario. Kyri lives about ten minutes away from me and Mario lives in Cyprus. Back in the day, my mum’s sister and her husband couldn’t have any children so my mum and dad had a child for them. Mario moved to Cyprus when he was five days old and has been there ever since. They told him as soon as he was able to understand. We get on like any brother and sister. I would love to have a family of my own – although at 41 I know my clock is ticking!

ON FAME I always wanted to be a writer. I always wanted to publish a novel. But I was not prepared for how well The Beekeeper of Aleppo did. When I see the book in the bestseller charts I still can’t believe that it is my book. It means so much to me that the book has reached so many hands and minds and hearts. I have so many more things that I want to write about, so many things that tug at my heart. I feel lucky and grateful to be able to write books.

Songbirds is published by Manilla Press, €16.27.

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