Catia Dawood

What was your favorite book as a child?

I always carried a book or two with me anywhere as a child. I didn’t have one favourite, but quite a few left a mark. I remember Anne Frank’s diary had a profound impact on me. I loved everything that Sophia de Mello Breyner, a Portuguese children’s author, wrote. And I was fascinated by the tales in “One Thousand and One Nights.”

Do you remember the original reason or motivation why you started writing creatively?

I wrote a lot of poetry when I was growing up and had tons of ideas for short stories, but never really saw them through. A couple of years ago I gave myself the challenge of finally completing a story — just to see if I could, and liked it. The answer was yes to both, so when the lockdown came I spent my free time creating and exploring new literary worlds. I also realised that writing fiction helped me process and reflect on everything happening around me even better than journaling or poetry.

What was the most adventurous or thrilling thing you ever did/experienced?

Falling in love while on holiday in Bahia, Brazil and embarking on a relationship without knowing whether we would ever see each other again or be together (we are!).

Do you listen to music while reading or writing?

I do, because it’s an extra layer that separates me from the world around me and allows me to dive deeper into the world on the page. I often listen to soft jazz or instrumental music. Sometimes I also listen to music that allows me to get closer to a character or state of mind I’m trying to write about. For instance, I am currently writing a story that involves a lot of music from the 80’s — 00’s period, from grunge, to soul to gangsta rap, which has been a blast to work on.