What is Sarah Going to Do Next?

Sarah Gwonyoma, Founder of @WhatSarahReadNext

“Growing up, the library was always where I liked to be; we didn’t have much money or full bookshelves at home, so the books I had were borrowed from the library, and it’s always been my happy place.”

When did your love for reading begin?

Sarah.  My Mum talks about how I was trying to read from the age of three. I have early memories of sitting on my Dad’s lap at the breakfast table as he read the sports pages of The Sun newspaper. I’d follow the words with my finger while my Dad read them aloud.

As a child, I spent so much time reading at my local library in South London. Mum worked full-time, and Dad was a cab driver. Dad would usually do the school pickup but sometimes drop us off at the library if he had a job booked. We would sit in the kid’s section with all these books until he’d finished his last job.

In the summer, the library always had a reading challenge on. We didn’t go abroad on summer holidays as a family, maybe a trip down to Hastings or another part of the English coastline. So summers for me were all about the reading challenge; it was amazing.

One of my favourite books as a child was The Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl; he was one of my favourite authors. Any waking hour, I would be reading it. I slept on the top of our bunk bed at home. I remember one night staying up late to finish reading the last ten pages. It got late, and Mum shouted, Sarah, turn the lights off and sleep! I was so tired I reached over for the switch, fell out of the top bunk, bashed my teeth and bit my lip.

Of course, I had friends and did other things, but reading has always been escapism. I could go to these different worlds created by Roald Dahl, for example. It was just my kind of comfort.

Sarah reading in the Snug at The Crown in Hastings

Did your love for reading start you down the path towards literature at school?

Sarah. Yes, hands down, English literature was my favourite subject. I went on to study it for my GCSE and A Levels.

I’m from Uganda, where culturally, it’s predetermined that you will be either a Doctor or a Lawyer; no chance of doing drama or any creative stuff. My Mum regularly reminded me how she had come to this country to better her life and invest in her children. I wanted to do drama and write books, and my mum was like, no way!

“I rebelled and studied for A Level, but that’s as far as it went.”

I studied International Development at university and then went on to do a Masters in the same subject. I’ve always been interested in world events, war, famine, HIV and Aids. I wanted to understand better the systems responsible for holding back my Motherland.

With your studies completed, what happened next?

Sarah.  I worked for various charities; the last one I worked for before meeting my late husband was War Child UK. I worked in the events media team. We organised large music events with the artists like Coldplay and Lily Allen. That was a cool job; it married the things I loved. I did that until 2007, when I met my late husband, Tim, at a party in Camden.

Tim was studying at the London School of Economics, and I had just finished my Masters at The School of Oriental and African Studies. We were both young, like-minded and eager to get out into the world and travel.

From the beginning, Tim told me he had applied for this job overseas in Fiji. He ended up getting the job and asking me to go with him. We had been together for about six weeks! We had both never been to Fiji.

When we arrived, I worked for a small HIV Aids non-governmental organisation, and then I moved on to work for the Australian government in the Department of Foreign Aid and Trade, managing a health program.

Then six years ago, Tim died; he had a sudden heart attack two weeks before Christmas. I was in Melbourne to do IVF when it happened. That same year we’d lost my brother and I miscarried twins. So 2017 was by far the worst year of my life.

I think it was two days after Tim’s funeral, and I couldn’t sleep. One of the books we had chosen for the book club that month was Roxane Gay’s Difficult Women. I picked it up off my bedside table and started reading it. I was in a bad way, but somehow reading about other people whose life was equally shit made me feel better. After that, I kept reading and reading. It became my escapism.

My son and I went back to England for a month, a few months after Tim died to figure out what we would do next. We had friends who had moved to Hastings, so we visited them. And we loved it! We hung out at the Goat Ledge and went on a walk to the Hastings Country Park, and I remember thinking to myself if we did move back to England, I would happily live here. I couldn’t see us in London. I’d been an Island girl for over a decade; I now crave space, nature and the sea.

Sarah at The  Hastings Bookshop

What was the spark which started What Sarah Read Next?

Sarah.  I set up What Sarah Read Next while I was still in Fiji. I was reading books, writing about them, and people were reading my posts. My page slowly grew as I uploaded more content. I enjoyed taking pictures and writing the reviews. I realised that I missed being creative.

When COVID hit, and no one was going out, I decided to reach out to authors and interview them on Instagram. I contacted many cool authors whose books I was reading, like Douglas Stuart, the author of Shuggie Bain. My Instagram Lives took it to a new level as it became so popular.

“I wanted to work out what my place in the world is. Books have always been there for me, so I decided to focus on them; put more energy into What Sarah Read Next, so I quit my job.”

During lockdown, I had an idea about a book, like a memoir, about what had happened to me in 2017 and how my life flipped around, from truly dark times turning into joy. So I sent a proposal to a few literature agencies, I found the right one, and they signed me there and then. So now I’m writing a book!

Hastings and St Leonards is a hub of many creative folks; I’ve been floored by the talent and energy here since we moved. Everyone is doing something cool but has a good work/life balance and kindred vibes. I want to highlight books in Hastings and St Leonards and bring authors to this area. I started experimenting with live author events last year with Afri-Co-Lab in St Leonards and the Electric Palace Cinema in Hastings, which went really well. I have more planned this year with Afri-Co-Lab and The Hastings Bookshop, which is exciting. Also, I keep getting asked to set up a @whatsarahreadnext Book Club, which I’m also thinking hard about for the very near future.

Right now, I’m focusing on writing my book. I’m currently hot desking between my home, Hasting’s Library, and other secret spots around town. I love Hastings Library. It’s a stunning building over four floors. When I need a writing break, I duck into Stooge Coffee for a chai latte, Sugar Pie Honey coffee shop on London Road for a watermelon salad, and Milk & Hustle for the best community bants and juices.

“I’ve lucked out coming back to England and settling here. I feel at home. I keep finding new things to love about this whole area. I feel so grateful because there was a point in my life when I never thought I’d smile again.”

Sarah Gwonyoma
Reader + Writer
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