How does it feel to be a migrant and watch Australian television? The advertisements, the dramas, the hosts in Australia arguably do not represent the multicultural fabric of the migrant nation.
A young Australian-Fijian-Indian author, Zoya Patel, strongly believes people of colour are underrepresented in pop culture and often ethnic characters are included in television and movies just to add 'flavour' to the white main characters.
And she will be speaking about this topic, ‘On Token Ethnic Friends in Pop Culture’ at the 2019 Sydney Writers Festival on Sunday.
“I am going to talk about some of my favourite shows and movies, including 10 Things I Hate About You, Gilmore Girls and Bend It Like Beckham. It's going to be fun, but I hope it also makes people think about the issue of media representation,” she says.
Zoya was born in Fiji and came to Australia when she was three.
“My background is Indian. We migrated to Australia because my father got a job here and the opportunities for both my parents and us as their children were greater in Australia than Fiji,” Zoya tells SBS Hindi about her migrant journey.
Growing up, Zoya says it was hard for her to form a stable identity as an Australian because despite being a multicultural country, she says her family experienced a lot of racism.
“But we also made some amazing friends and have very much made Australia our home,” she says.
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Zoya’s book, ‘No Country Woman’, is based on her reflections on the complexity of life as a migrant in Australia.
“Trapped between two cultures and always trying to find a way into your adopted or your home culture, the book focuses on migrant experiences and the status of race in Australia, told through a blend of memoir and analysis,” she says.
“I write about everything from Indian weddings, to my love of animals, to the issue of cultural appropriation. It's everything I wish I had been able to read growing up, and I hope it is having some impact on young migrants today.”
Zoya has been writing since childhood and feels writing stories has the ‘immense power’ to ‘shed light on marginalised experiences’.
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“I have been writing since I was a kid - something just always drew me to books and telling stories.
“These days, I am drawn to writing because I can see the immense power that stories have when it comes to shedding light on marginalised experiences and connecting people despite differences,”
The Canberra-based author is also a passionate feminist and founded an online feminist journal – Feminartsy in 2014. She was also named ACT Young Woman of the Year for her commitment to raising the profile of women’s voices in the media in 2015.
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The journal focusses on women's stories and publishes fiction, features and memoir.
“Feminartsy publishes new writing each week, with a focus on gender and feminism. In 2016 and 2017, we ran a professional development program for emerging writers, with the support of artsACT. I led and managed the project myself,” she says.
She doesn't edit the magazine anymore, instead, she says she is working on her next novel.
“My next is a novel about exploring identity politics and where conversations so often go wrong when we try and talk about diversity. I don't want to give too much away at this point, but I'm very excited about it!”
