coffee with...sonia feldman
a conversation with the debut novelist on vintage ribbons, advice for writers, and getting dressed before you do something brave.
Welcome back to “coffee with….” a series inspired by slow mornings in good company. This series shares conversations with people whose curiosity, craft and perspective inspire me, and whose words linger in my mind long after the last sip.
Summer in high school existed vividly outside the normal mechanisms of time. Days dragged together, sticky and humid, marked by who texted back and which secrets you were keeping that week. Everything felt simultaneously enormous and insignificant – glances, kisses, whispers, friendships and relationships shifting like a kaleidoscope while days and weeks ran together. The low hum of urgency to make the most of a perfect summer made every moment feel like a live wire – waiting, wondering, if this moment will be the one when a defining something will happen.
That endless existence, filled with tension and self-discovery, is exactly what debut novelist Sonia Feldman captures in her novel Girl’s Girl, out today. It follows three best friends across one midwestern summer, centered around the kiss that destabilizes their relationships and begins to unravel everything. It’s a book about girlhood and longing, and the dizzying, endless work of becoming yourself. Reading it sent me straight back to my own teenage summers.1
I am so glad I got a chance to make Sonia a (metaphorical) cup of tea, and talk about her novel, advice for writers, and getting dressed before you do something brave.
Without further ado — Sonia.
Xx
earlybird is a weekly newsletter for multi-interest readers who want to live a little more intentionally — the online equivalent of catching up with a friend over coffee. Expect personal essays, obsessively researched travel guides, and recommendations worth your time (and money). For weekly posts every Thursday, the Sunday Edition, bonus essays, interviews, and forever access to the full archive of 200+ issues, consider upgrading to a paid subscription.
about you:
Name: Sonia Feldman
Title / Role (how would you describe yourself and what you do?): Author
Where are you answering from today? Cleveland, Ohio
Where can readers find you:
Website: https://soniacfeldman.com/
Social Handles @writsonia (Instagram, TikTok and Threads, but Instagram is mainly where I’m active)
How would you describe yourself in one sentence? I’m a writer from Cleveland who loves talking to her friends on the phone.
Is there a project, launch, or other thing you’d love readers to know about right now? My debut novel, Girl’s Girl, is out June 2nd! (today!)
What’s your go-to coffee order?* I’m a tea girl—London fog, no sweetener.
Something you read, watched, or listened to recently that stuck with you?* U R MINE by Kaeto is giving me big feelings at the moment. It has this incredible looping quality, where you can just listen to it over and over again.
What’s a small ritual or habit that brings you joy? Brushing my hair ✨
A book / podcast/ article you keep recommending?* Dogs of Summer by Andrea Abreu, translated by Julia Sanches. It’s a girlhood novel set in the Canary Islands about two 10-year-old best friends. I love how they’re allowed to be feral and obsessed with each other. Also the Astra House edition has a perfect cover.
What’s a small luxury you won’t apologize for? Ordering large quantities of loose leaf tea via email—shout out to Amber and Cleveland Tea Revival —and then drinking many cups of tea all day long regardless of how my stomach lining feels about this behavior.
Something you’re curious about right now?* I think the bombardment of information we’re all dealing with all the time can dampen curiosity. It feels hard to open yourself up to wondering. That’s one of the appeals of poetry for me. A good poem makes me feel like my brain has been turned inside out and then folded like a piece of laundry. I get curious about how the poem works, but then also the process of reading the poem heightens my perception and makes new room for me to ask questions. Part of the reason why I run a weekly poetry newsletter is that if I have to send a newsletter, then I have to read poems first, and I want to remain available to curiosity, even when I’m tired.
Favorite discovery this year?* Vintage ribbons on Etsy. I can’t stop buying them. Ribbons light my brain on fire. They’re too good.
What’s your favorite way to get out of your comfort zone? The best way for me to get out of my comfort zone is to get all dressed up first. When I’m wearing An Outfit, I feel infinitely more capable of doing something I’ve never done before.
What helps you stay grounded? Writing by hand in my journal. Many of my journal entries are frustrated and melodramatic because I can’t actually get myself to write in my journal in the first place unless I really need the handwriting process for relief.
How do you nurture connection with others? By saying yes to everybody’s bachelorette parties. Invite me. I’m down for the Airbnb.
How do you nurture connection with yourself?I write poetry. I take a long time getting dressed. I go to the Cleveland Museum of Art and look at the water lilies.
Who do you look to for inspiration? Who or what is sparking your creativity?* I love beautiful pieces of paper. Stationary, stickers, handwriting. The ascendence of the analog internet right now is so fun. I want to sign up for like 45 different mail clubs. See: Martina Calvi, Merle Mail, Kizia Gayle, and Manjit Thapp, among many others.
If you could have coffee with anyone (no rules!) who would it be? Jane Austen. I want a tête-à-tête.
From the first page of Girl’s Girl, I was immediately struck by the way that Sonia’s writing makes the ordinary feel charged. In her novel, as in her interview here, the small and seemingly insignificant moments of life feel so vivid as to be excruciating. A kiss, a selfie, the friend you can’t stop looking at and must look away from, are so immersive you can’t help but be consumed by the urgency and anxiety of youth on the brink of adulthood. It’s a coming of age story, a tribute to girlhood, and a gorgeously immersive celebration of a suburban midwestern summer.
Girl’s Girl is out now – I hope you read it somewhere sunny and humid, ideally with a tall glass of iced tea within reach. If you’re anything like me, you won’t be able to put it down.
I was generously sent an ARC of Girl’s Girl under no obligation to share or promote. I enjoyed it so much I was delighted to have the chance to feature Sonia on Coffee with…
Loved this “tea with” 🍵 and Girl’s Girl sounds right up my alley. Can’t wait to read. I have a feeling it will be so nostalgic as someone who spent every summer of her youth in the Midwest.