CECILE SARRUF

A creative writer writes  with or without pen to page.

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At three, I would sit at my mother’s feet in San Fernando Valley, California and watch her paint. There were no toys. I had no coloring books either -- just blank sheets of paper to create my own world on. My first languge was French. I did not read nor write English until the age of six, when I first entered a parochial school in Seattle, WA. I had to unlearn French and relearn it when our family moved to Quebec, Canada.

Finally, after our return to California, an English teacher caught me gazing out the classroom's back window and gave me a copy of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. I was thirteen. I immediatly felt inspired to write my own stories, so  I tried my hand on the page. Unfortunatly, my mother snatched the notebook out of my hands, “what are you writing?” A story, I told her. With an incredulous look in her eye, typical of an immigrant to a new country, she snatched it away. Speaking out and calling attention to one's self was not customary for a girl within her culture. By the time I hit high school, I identified as an artist, classically trained musician and theater enthusiast.

I was fourteen when I wrote my first ever piece, a short funny story on a neighboring boy. To my surprise, the class broke out in laughter. It was then that I discovered the power of the pen.

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I was a two time art scholarship recipient with 100 pieces of finished artwork by the time I turned 19, with a degree in fine art. After obtaining an MFA in  creative writing, I found myself teaching English in an Islamic school, something I had never counted on, nor planned for. It was here that I accepted an invitation to a fellow teacher's sister's wedding in Lebanon. Some call it luck. I call it fate. If it weren’t for Lebanon, I would not have eventually written a full complete memoir of my experiences within the Shia community in Los Angeles and my subsequent trip to Lebanon.

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In 2016, following brain surgery, I found myself in a very dark place. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to discover, and join, a vibrant writing community within Laguna Beach, California. Through Third Street Writers, I fostered comradeship and gained opportunity as an editor and author for their various publications. 

Currently, I am and have been  an active participant in the group's public readings at the LCAD gallery, as well as the Festival of the Arts, Laguna Beach. The latter afforded me publications in Art Inscribed, an annual anthology of ekphrastic writings. I enjoy the exploration of art and writing, given the fact that I am both a visual artist and writer. 

Below, please find an excerpt from my yet to be published book: Kitchen in Beirut; a Memoir Braving Cultural Crossroads

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My motto:​

 "If you find a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it." Toni Morrison

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