Now it’s time to learn more about the authors we read. . .

What drew you to the genre you write?
For me, literature is all about expanding empathy. I’m drawn to crime fiction because it gets to the heart of human behaviour and motivations, and I’m drawn to literary criticism because I love exploring the history, culture, and perspectives that inform literary works.

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?
Most of my published work is nonfiction, but I’m working on something now in which a character, after contracting dengue fever, is morosely obsessed with mosquitoes. It’s a very small part of the story, and it is obviously completely unrelated to my own flabbergasting experience with a dengue-carrying mosquito last year…

Tell us how you got into writing?
Reading and writing have been a central part of my life for as long as I can remember. I was the youngest kid in my neighborhood to ever get a library card; the snarky librarian made four-year-old me read from The New York Times before she agreed to waive the age requirement. Other things fell to the wayside because narrative was the only thing I was really interested in. In kindergarten, my parents were called because I wasn’t paying attention in class; instead, I was composing a wee “novel” on the back of the assignment sheets. It’s too bad I don’t have it anymore, because I’m sure it was a masterpiece! By high school, I was interning at a writing organization, doing poetry open mics, writing for local ‘zines, and imagining myself as Jack Kerouac. It was always about the process of writing for me, though. I don’t think I ever considered publishing until I was in grad school.

What jobs have you held before, during and/or after you became a writer?
I’m currently Lecturer of Humanities at Boston University; I have taught for essentially all of my adult life. I had a lot of different jobs in college, the best of which was in pizza delivery. That job provided limitless opportunities to listen to Tom Waits, eat pizza and chicken wings, and collect material for stories. You learn some interesting things about human nature in a job like that; it provides a kind of fly-on-the-wall perspective into people’s lives. The folks who answer the door in their underwear could be a field of study in themselves!

How many books do you have published?
One book, several articles, and a short story

Where do you write?
I write write in my home office, next to an inspirational picture of Dashiell Hammett. When I’m not there, I constantly take notes on napkins, receipts, envelopes…anything that is at hand.

What is your favorite deadline snack?
It’s not really a snack, but I’m an incorrigible San Pelligrino chugger. It helps me to stay awake and hydrated when I’m on a deadline.

Who is an author you admire?
Just one? There are so many! I’m going to pick Adrian McKinty here, because I’m teaching one of his Sean Duffy novels in the fall, and every time I reread the books in that series, I am in awe of how brilliant they are. It takes immense talent to bring a reader fully into a place—particularly a suffocating, scary place—and lead them through it with humour and empathy.

What’s your favorite genre to read?
Crime fiction, always, but I do read both fiction and nonfiction of all kinds.

What are you reading now?
I just finished rereading Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman, which I’m also teaching in the fall. It’s amazing how applicable it still is, more than 230 years later. I’m also midway through the audiobook of Ken Bruen’s new Jack Taylor novel, Galway Confidential.

What is your favorite beverage to end the day?
Sparkling lavender and chamomile iced tea

What is next for you?
I’m working on some fiction at the moment—thoughts and prayers would be much appreciated!

Where can we find you?
Online: on Facebook and (less frequently) Instagram. I usually forget to look at other social media. In person: in Boston, at cons, in front of the computer, and at jazz clubs.

Now to have some fun . . .

Chocolate, vanilla, or another flavor
Lavender or elderflower

Ice cream or cake
I’m not a sweets person—I’ll take something salty every time (insert commercial for Wuster Taytos here).

Fruits or vegetables
Both! I’m a huge farm market devotee.

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Dinner. Breakfast is usually rushed; lunch is either rushed or (I know, I know) skipped altogether.

Dining in or dining out
Both: I love to cook, but I also love cuisines from all over the world, and I love trying new restaurants.

City life or country living
City life, but with soundproof windows (she says with construction booming in the background).

Beach or mountain
Mountain

Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall
Spring

Extrovert or introvert
Extrovert, but extremely self-conscious about it.

Early bird or night owl
Night owl perpetually attempting to reform, with little success.

And even more fun . . .

What’s your favorite movie?
It’s as hard for me to pick one film as it is to pick one author! I suppose the film I’ve watched the most is Huston’s version of The Maltese Falcon.

You are stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
An endless supply of books and music, good company of both human and feline varieties, the Professor and Mary Anne. I know…I just wasted my last must-have instead of using it for a boat to escape, but in the words of Oscar Wilde, “I can resist anything except temptation.”

My bio:
Anjili Babbar is an Agatha Award-winning, Anthony and Macavity Award-nominated author of nonfiction and short fiction and a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. She is a scholar of Irish and British literature, with a particular focus on crime fiction and criminality, and Lecturer of Humanities at Boston University. Her recent book, Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction, is an extensive survey of Irish crime writers and the ways in which they subvert literary traditions and genre conventions.