Vanessa R. Sasson

Vanessa R. Sasson doesn't let academic life or cultural ideologies define her. How could she when most of her life she's been caught between worlds? Born and raised in Montreal in an Egyptian Jewish household, Vanessa's upbringing often left her feeling like an outsider. During the week she went to an Ashkenazi (European) Jewish school, but on the weekends, she lived her Egyptian heritage, wrapped up in its nostalgia and rosewater scented desserts. 

Vanessa's desire to speak her truth and embrace the imperfect human experience has bled into her academic life and inspired a work of creative fiction, her new novel, Yasodhara and the Buddha.

In today’s episode Vanessa shares what brings her joy, storytelling. She’s been enamored with stories her entire life and when Vanessa first started as an academic she thought to be a good scholar meant she had to look at stories and study them, analyze them, take them apart and reconstruct them in order to see what clues she could find underneath. When she was studying the story of the Buddha’s wife, it changed everything for her. Through this experience Vanessa began to realize that knowledge doesn’t have to fit into a particular box, and there isn’t a dividing line between scholarship and creativity.

To learn more and connect with Vanessa check out her website www.vanessarsasson.com on Instagram @vanessa_r._sasson Twitter @vrsasson and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/VanessaRSasson

Stories of Inspiring Joy is a production of Seek The Joy Media and created by Sydney Weiss. To learn more and submit your story, click here.

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Stories of Inspiring Joy.