This week, Signature share with you more about Sarah Marsh, a popular writer and novelist. The blog highlights more about her first novel, A Sign of Her Own, drawing inspiration from Sarah’s upbringing as a deaf individual.
Carry on reading for more!
- Hi Sarah, first, could you introduce yourself to our Signature readers?
Hi, I’m Sarah Marsh, and I’m a writer. My first novel A Sign of Her Own has just been published by Tinder Press.
- Where did your passion for literature and creativity derive from?
I was always reading as a child. I loved having access to the thoughts and inner lives of so many characters in books. Because I was deaf and relied heavily on lipreading, I struggled to follow class discussion at school, and I was happier escaping into a reading or writing task. I often felt that writing was an easier way to express myself.
- Can you expand on your experiences of growing up as someone who is deaf?
I grew up using hearing aids and lipreading to communicate. I was the only child at school with hearing aids, and I often tried to hide my deafness, and get by on lipreading. As a result, I was frequently exhausted from concentration fatigue and the poor-quality noise from my hearing aids. I felt (and still feel) that I have to carefully plan and navigate every situation so that I can manage it.
That said, I think being deaf has taught me so much, including the importance of understanding your deaf identity. And it has been a joy learning BSL and connecting with other deaf people.
- What inspired you to write A Sign of Her Own?
My mum and aunts are deaf and hard-of -hearing, but we never discussed our deafness. When I was in my twenties, I started learning BSL and reading about Deaf history. I came across When the Mind Hears by Harlan Lane and read about Alexander Graham Bell’s deaf pupils. I was amazed that so few people knew about this side of the telephone’s story. There wasn’t much information about his pupils in the historical records, and I wanted to try and imagine what their experience had been.
- What key message did you hope to portray within tour book, were there any specific topics you wanted to cover?
The book is told from the point of view of a young deaf woman, Ellen Lark. She’s a fictional character but based on Bell’s real-life pupils. The story puts the reader into her perspective, exploring her relationship with Bell and the challenges she has to deal with in the hearing world. I wanted readers to experience the different ways she communicates (lipreading, speech, sign, pen, and paper), and also to show the importance of community for deaf people in the 19th century. Bell’s focus was on creating connections through developing the telephone for hearing people and promoting speech training for deaf people. But he disregarded deaf people’s need for sign language and for meaningful connection with each other.
- Why do you think it is so important that people are deaf aware?
Many people don’t realise just how hard deaf and hard-of-hearing people have to work every day to overcome communication barriers. It’s a constant effort. People being deaf aware really helps make things more equal. For example, if people remember to look at me when they are talking, I can follow the conversation much more easily. If they don’t, I can’t. It’s a small thing for a hearing person to do, but it makes such a difference.
- What advice would you give to a deaf individual who is wanting to pursue their passion of writing?
There are many ways to enjoy writing, and I only know about the task of writing a first novel. It took me over ten years to write A Sign of Her Own because it was hard to find enough time. Three things helped me that I would recommend: reading widely; being part of a writing group; and making sure you write something every day (even if it’s just a paragraph). I kept reminding myself that writing is like a relationship, and you have to show up for it.
I would really recommend reading works by other deaf writers to appreciate the creative possibilities of writing about deafness. For example: Raymond Antrobus, Ilya Kaminsky, Lisa Kelly, Sara Novic, Louise Stern and Jessica White.
There are some great opportunities for deaf and disabled writers which you can find via social media. Spread the Word and CRIPtic Arts run salons and workshops, and Curtis Brown Creative recently ran a mentoring programme. There are often barriers to taking part in literature events, but these kinds of opportunities help address the frequent lack of accessibility.
Finally, tell the story you want to tell, and that you believe in. Don’t worry too much about needing to educate people about deafness (if this is your subject matter): that will come through your passion for the story.
- Here at Signature, we are incredibly excited about the prospect of a BSL GCSE, what are your thoughts on this qualification?
I think it’s hugely exciting, I hope that schools will take up the opportunity and work with deaf experts and deaf teachers to make the GCSE happen in their schools. It’s really important for deaf BSL users to feel included in their school, and also for deaf and hard of hearing children who haven’t had much exposure to BSL to appreciate that BSL is part of their heritage as deaf people.
- Finally, do you have any future aspirations/goals that you would like to achieve in the next few years?
Hopefully to write another book!
Here at Signature, we would like to thank Sarah for sharing with us more about her passion for writing and the background of this love. Additionally, it has been great to share with our readers Sarah’s insight into pursuing a career in literature. We look forward to reading more of Sarah’s work in the future!