At the Emirates Literature LitFest Writing Prize 2023...

...Farah Libardee received an honorable mention from the Judge for her manuscript submission of the epistolary novel Chasing Kites- My Quest for Freedom, emphasizing the strong voice of the main character of Sharan.

Chasing Kites - My Quest for Freedom, is a fictional narrative rooted in Sharan’s real-world existence, his experiences are brought to life through imaginary letters that draw on forever-changed perceptions of the world, and celebrate his determination to become an artist and motivational speaker.

Raw, unrelenting, moving and-ultimately, relatable, the reader is invited to take their own enlightened insider journey in search of acceptance, purpose and peace.

At present writing “Chasing Kites - My Quest for Freedom”

Chasing Kites - My Quest for Freedom

Synopsis

Will he be broken and defeated by life? Or broken and transformed?

A bright energetic boy who loved to run and play with his friends, at nine years old, Sharan was diagnosed with Becker muscular dystrophy - a life-threatening degenerative disease. By his late twenties and already unable to walk or take care of himself, he lost the ability to speak. Left to wander the often self-despairing prison of his own mind and torn between a desire to end it all and somehow carry on, Sharan found the courage to persist - and to find his voice in the world.

A fictional narrative rooted in Sharan’s real-world existence, his experiences are brought to life through imaginary letters that draw on forever-changed perceptions of the world, and celebrate his determination to become an artist and motivational speaker.

The book begins with Sharan waking up in a hospital ICU, connected to a ventilator and unable to breathe for himself. A seminal moment in his life journey that paves the way for a collection of letters recounting his childhood. ‘Why Can’t I be like Everybody Else?’ is a brutally graphic description of climbing onto the school bus on his knees while being mocked by his peers and chronicling of the war being waged inside his head following a visceral reaction to his mother’s uncontrollable tears ensuing his official diagnosis.

In ‘Satsang’ and other letters, he explores how the lives of those around him are unexpectedly transformed as a result of his condition, his own coping mechanisms, as well as how the barbaric hopelessness of the situation kindles the light in other’s hearts. The intimate exchanges with his caregiver, a proud descendent of the ancient Ghanaian kingdom of Dagbon; between Sharan and his sister, a Muslim convert and in several confrontational letters where he describes a longing to reconnect with his father, despite a seemingly impassible void in their relationship.

‘Fatema in Heaven’ is a subsequent marker that chronicle his disputes with, and confessions to, God; a pivotal point where the overwhelming anxiety is replaced by determination to transform his silence into a liberating experience.

Raw, unrelenting, moving and – ultimately - relatable, the reader is invited to take their own enlightened insider journey in search of acceptance, purpose and peace. Read in one gulp or slowly, one letter per day, Sharan’s story will forever change the way you look at life.