Shyness made Nora Khalil a writer

Nora Khalil is the primary school teacher who chose to take a break and read Jakobsberg folk high school’s one-year writing line. Soon she became a finalist in the competition Orten’s best poet and shortly afterwards an editor called her and asked if she wanted to write a book.

The result was the August Award-nominated “Yani” in 2022 and recently the standalone sequel “Abow”. Despite the successes, Nora Khalil’s first thought was “Why me?” when Bibi Rödöö asked if she wanted to talk summer in P1.

— I have spent the majority of my time in my room. Being the typically introverted girl that I am, I didn’t think I had much interesting to tell. Many summer conversations are so dramatic, she says at the bakery on Tingstorget in the Stockholm suburb of Alby where she meets TT.

It was when she received a letter from a 14-year-old reader that she understood what the subject would be.

— She wrote that she also wanted to be a writer, but that she felt too shy for that, says Nora Khalil, who has realized that introverted people can have an advantage in the writing profession.

“Shy observar”

However, she did not feel that way during her own upbringing.

— But now I realize that those who are shy are the ones who observe everything, it becomes material to write about, says Nora Khalil.

But even though the subject choice felt obvious, it has been an omission to do “Summer” in P1. If someone criticizes her fiction books, she can hide behind the novel characters.

— But if they criticize my summer talk, it’s more like they criticize me. I also don’t want to give myself away completely, which is why I chose to talk about my writing journey. I am absolutely personal, but do not go into the details, she says.

“I understand that you can be hesitant about a book in slang, but it has been cool to realize that young people in the town can also become writers,” says Nora Khalil about writing in slang.

In any case, the summer talk should not be about what she thinks many expect: Alby. It is not only the place where she herself was born and raised. It is also where Rayan, Caspian, Amir, Wahida and the other characters in Nora Khalil’s books “Yani” and “Abow” live their lives.

Amir is to be deported to Iraq, Wahida’s brother is shot to death and Caspian acquires both a bulletproof vest and a gun. Nora Khalil has written the youth novels during a time of shooting deaths and political discussions about gang crime.

No solutions

But all is not dark in Nora Khalil’s novels. There is also a bubbling love story between Rayan and Wahida and of course Sebbe – the firebrand at the leisure park.

— Children in the suburbs do not have many places to be. If a holiday farm closes down and then reopens, you think you are starting over. But you can’t just replace an adult all the time and think you’re solving the problems, it takes time to build trust.

Despite the positions, Nora Khalil is careful to point out that she does not want to provide any solutions to the problems.

— I’m interested in relationships and want to show how little it takes to go wrong. But also how much it affects the environment. It affects us, everyone in the town knows someone who has died in shootings. It’s our lives, says Nora Khalil, who hopes that the books can be a basis for discussing the deadly violence.

Nora Khalil is a trained primary school teacher but is on leave to write and lecture. On July 11, she hosts “Summer” in P1.

She has received responses from both young people and teachers. Not least from residents of Alby who say that the books, which are written in slang, represent how they speak.

— Teachers have told us that they have read the books aloud to the class and that the class has laughed out loud because the teacher pronounces the words wrong. Then all of a sudden they switch positions of power and the student teaches the teacher.

The prominent figures in the two books are boys. Nora Khalil, who has allowed several people in her own environment to inspire the characters in the novel, believes that it is due to the fact that she herself has three brothers.

— For some strange reason, it’s also easier to write about guys. If I’m going to analyze myself, I think it might be because I care so much about being a good girl and it’s not that fun to just read about girls who are always doing what’s right or what’s expected of them. I’ve been very careful most of my life.

But maybe something has changed during the time Nora Khalil worked on “Summer” in P1 – she has dared to show herself more. Nora Khalil is now working on a script for Kulturhuset Husby. It’s about three high-achieving girls where one no longer wants to be with them and how that affects their relationship.

— I share a little more of myself in it, says Nora Khalil.