Harvard Authors Profile: Leyla Brittan ’19 on the Messy and Beautiful Power of Storytelling

Leyla Brittan ’19 spent her years since graduation exploring a range of writing professions, from outdoor sports journalism to screenwriting for film and television, until she realized that her true passion was writing a book of her own. Brittan trusted that fiction would allow her to recreate the all too familiar experiences of navigating intersecting identities, redefining the meaning of love, and dwelling in the discomfort of vulnerability.

Brittan’s journey to discovering her voice as an author began with the short stories she crafted in middle school. She drafted her first book as a high school freshman. The path ultimately led to the creation of her debut novel, “Ros Demir Is Not the One,”which takes inspiration from a short story she wrote during her senior spring semester at Harvard in Professor Laura van den Berg’s creative writing workshop.

The Young Adult novel is a not-quite rom-com that reimagines the classic William Shakespeare play, “Romeo and Juliet.” Through what she views as an unconventional protagonist, Ros Demir, Brittan encourages readers to reflect on their humanity and imperfections.

“I wanted to write a teenage character who actively made mistakes and then grew from them,” Brittan said.

It was important for her that this coming-of-age narrative where Ros grapples with her Turkish-American identity, a longing to be accepted, and the pursuit of her own love story, was channeled through the YA genre. Brittan reflected on the significance of YA fiction in her own life, shaping her perspective of the world and offering her answers she couldn’t seem to find anywhere else.

“I like to say that the reason that I write young adult literature is because the period of my life when I was reading the most YA was the period of my life when I was looking to books to figure out how to be a person, and I was looking to books for answers. And I think there is something really powerful about that,” Brittan said.

When asked about the different ways in which she has evolved as a writer throughout her career, Brittan shared that the most important change she has noticed is gaining a deeper understanding of the power of storytelling. As a Turkish-American, she avoided writing about her family’s heritage and the complexities of having a multicultural background for most of her life.

Afraid that she was not qualified to write about being Turkish, as someone who was born and raised in New York, she hadn’t yet recognized the value of exploring this uncomfortable feeling through the pages of a novel. Brittan constantly asked herself whether this was even her story to tell — a common feeling of uncertainty that often permeates young writers.

“My mom is from Turkey, and it was something that I was very aware of growing up. It’s always been a big part of who I am, but it is very vulnerable and scary, especially as a young person, to put those experiences with your identity on the page,” Brittan said.

Brittan smiled as she spoke about the authors that played a significant role in shaping her relationship with identity and that gave her the courage to confront those insecurities, such as novelist Ruth Ozeki.

“She’s written so many beautiful books. She’s just one example of someone who’s written in that space of inhabiting multiple cultures and questioning what that means, among many other amazing authors, of course. But through that reading, I realized the value of writing about those experiences,” Brittan said.

While it is not an autobiography, Brittan hopes that her book and its fictional characters provide readers the same comfort and agency she found in this type of literature, helping them see themselves reflected in her work.

For Brittan, this novel is a contemporary remix of a classical story, but it is not just a retelling. She drew inspiration from the romantic comedy films she grew up watching like “She’s the Man” with Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum, which is a modern reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” Brittan realized that these retellings could reach audiences in a unique and meaningful way.

In a twist on the classic love story, she decided to center the spotlight on Rosaline — Ros — from “Romeo and Juliet,” inviting readers into a parallel universe where Romeo ends up with her instead of Juliet. Ros finds herself in the middle of a star-crossed romance that might not be hers, forcing her to realize the importance of appreciating platonic love instead.

“A big part of the book, without too many spoilers, is her journey toward also recognizing the immense value of platonic love and of friendships, and realizing that contrary to what the 80s teen movies that she loves to watch might be telling her, romantic love, especially as a teenager, is not the be all, end all,” Brittan said.

Brittan’s time at Harvard as an undergraduate fostered her professional and academic growth. Specifically, the courses she took in the English department introduced her to multicultural narratives and contemporary literature, setting the foundation for her writing style. Furthermore, she recounted the extracurricular activities she was involved in, including singing for The Radcliffe Pitches and writing for Fifteen Minutes, which shaped her passion for the arts. Brittan was even able to find a remote writing group of Harvard alumni novelists that have supported her throughout the writing process for this debut novel and the several other books she is currently working on.

As a writer who accomplished her dream of one day walking through the bookstore and finding her own book on the shelf, she encourages aspiring authors to just keep writing even when you aren’t creating the most beautiful prose.

“You’re not always going to be in the right headspace to write every day, and sometimes you’re going to need to write some really bad stuff in order to get to the good stuff,” Brittan said.

For Brittan, the messy and imperfect parts of the writing process are not just necessary — they are ultimately what brings powerful stories to life.

—Staff Writer Maria F. Cifuentes can be reached at maria.cifuentes@thecrimson.com.