Meanjin: When did you begin to write poetry or to write more generally?

Omar Sakr: I was 15 when I first started to write with the intention of becoming a published writer. However, I was never into poetry—unless you count the poems in Lord of the Rings, which I loved as a boy. I only started writing poetry seriously in 2013, while undertaking a Masters at USYD. I enrolled in the class on a whim, and very quickly realised this was what I was supposed to be doing all along. Small wonder I had struggled with fiction for so long; it isn’t my natural form. I wish it hadn’t taken so long to discover that, but better late than never.