Writer’s Block: Sanita Fejzić

All Lit Up: Tell us about your new book. What can readers expect?

Sanita Fejzić: Blissful State of Surrender is a play, so expect fast-paced dialogue from beginning to end. The heart of the story is a married couple, Sue and Emir, refugee-turned-immigrants from Bosnia and Herzegovina who fled the war and genocide that exploded in the Balkans between 1992 and 1995. The action takes place in a suburban Canadian home 20-some years after the couple’s arrival as they prepare to host a birthday party for their youngest daughter. The story follows with a series of comedic and dramatic misunderstandings, revelations, and reconciliation between family members and the past that haunts them. 

The opening scene is written almost entirely in Bosnian with English translations provided in brackets. Throughout the play, the actors playing Emir and Sue speak in a thick Bosnian accent. Their spoken English employs Bosnian syntax, which is why, for example, the position of subject and verb is reversed. Reading the play, you’ll know what’s happening from the translations I provided. However, seeing it live is even better; in the absence of direct translation, you hear and feel the battlefield of bitterness and constant bickering between Sue and Emir without needing to understand the complaints and insults spilling from their mouths. Withholding English in key scenes creates a sense of defamiliarization, a desired effect that allows audiences not just to witness, but to embody for a moment, the refugee and immigrant experience.

All Lit Up: What do you hope readers take away from your book?

Sanita Fejzić: Blissful State of Surrender is a dramatic comedy that delves into the lives of a Bosnian Canadian family grappling with trauma, social-class limbo, and intergenerational differences, challenging Canada’s self-image as a haven for refugees. As a Muslim Bosniak refugee-turned-immigrant who fled the horrors of the genocide of my people, I witnessed firsthand the impacts of arriving to Canada and my parents’ diplomas not being recognized. How they had to start over, again and again, their dignity stripped as they were forced into working class jobs.

Blissful State of Surrender, while a dramatic comedy, doesn’t shy away from exploring challenging topics, including the impacts of ethnic cleansing and post-traumatic stress disorder. The accident of being born a secular Muslim Bosniak has been a source of torment and trauma for me, years before 9/11 and islamophobia became a source of unrest in the West. Yet, while I explore the injustice and pain the family in the play has survived, the story also dwells on the ways in which internalized oppression breeds lateral violence.  

All Lit Up: How do you overcome creative blocks when they arise?

Sanita Fejzić: For me, writer’s block hides either lack of clarity or doubt. I’ve learned not to force my way through it—the text suffers when I’ve tried to overcome resistance with willpower. So. I break things down into smaller pieces. I go for a walk. I let it be. I do something else. I read. When all else fails, I sit at my desk and read the last pages I’d written. That usually that gets the juices flowing again.

Writer’s block is a great teacher: it’s helped me understand that writing isn’t just about doing. It’s a process of letting go and of being open to discovery. It requires awareness, attention, and curiosity—the opposite of willpower and force. I try to remember that when I’m blocked, particularly when deadlines create pressure and expectations. Surrender is easy; easiness is hard.

All Lit Up: What books have you read lately that you can’t stop thinking about?

Sanita Fejzić: I’m a compulsive reader. By my toilet, you will find magazines and collections of poetry in English and French. In the absence of books, I will read the back of shampoo bottles. I love reading, and I always have. I read widely and without discrimination so long as I like it. Here’s an abbreviated list of what I’ve read recently that has either broadened or transformed the web of my thinking mind or touched my heart:

Fiction: Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels. Tell me everything by Elizabeth Strout. Ce que je sais de toi by Éric Chacour.

Non-fiction: Remembering Peasants: A Personal History of a Vanished World by Patrick Joyce. Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit. The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz.

Drama: Cockroach by Ho Ka Kei (Jeff Ho). Pacific Palisades by Guillaume Corbeil. La nuit où Laurier Gaudreault s’est réveillé by Michel Marc Bouchard.

Poetry: Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz. New and Selected Poems by Marie Howe. The Renunciations by Donika Kelly.

All Lit Up: What was the most surprising thing you discovered about your story and/or characters while writing your latest book?

Sanita Fejzić: Writing a play is not like writing a book of fiction or collection of poetry. For the latter, you write directly for readers, whereas for the former, you’re writing for actors and directors, for the stage. That doesn’t mean reading plays isn’t wonderful—I love reading plays, it’s such a unique experience. Who doesn’t want to be enchanted or challenged by a story in a one or two hour sitting? When there’s only dialogue, the reading experience is like a highway ride. But: writing plays isn’t like reading them; it’s a long and a deeply collaborative process that often involves workshops with actors, dramaturges, consultants, and directors. You have to think about the cost of production. For example: in writing Blissful State of Surrender, an early collaborator suggested I cut the kitchen as a setting because it would be more expensive to produce at set with two rooms versus one, limiting its potential pick-up. I learned a lot in writing Blissful State of Surrender, my first play, and I have so much gratitude for the many, many people who helped me along the way.

I also had the chance to collaborate with a cultural consultant, Jamaal Jackson Rogers, whom I turned to for treatment of toxic masculinity and racism. In a play about the impacts of genocide and islamophobia, holding the balance between showing the victimization of Muslim Bosniak people while addressing the privileges of white skin and heteropatriarchy can be, and has been, a double-edged sword. When Jamaal said he thought Blissful State of Surrender was “a masterpiece,” honest and raw about difficult subjects, I felt not only deeply honoured, but frankly relieved. Taking risks can be scary—working with collaborators and consultants gave me courage and strength.

All Lit Up: If you could spend a day with one of your characters, who would it be and why?

Sanita Fejzić: Jidu for sure. He’s compassionate, loyal, loving, and a working artist. The way he loves, so foolishly and completely, makes him an archetypal embodiment of romance and I think we need more fools in love than the endless other kinds of fools and foolishness we see in the world.  

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Sanita Fejzić is a playwright, poet, and literary writer. She has won and been shortlisted for numerous literary and theatre awards. Blissful State of Surrender premiered at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in February 2022, and was nominated for five Rideau Awards, winning for Best Actress. In 2023, Sanita produced Why Worry About Their Futures at the undercurrents festival. Her radio play, Machines and Moss, was produced by the National Arts Centre in 2024.

Photo of Sanita credit E.L. Photography.