Shingai Njeri Kagunda

The standard questions

We ask every featured author the same set, so the archive is comparable.

How did you start writing?

I began across forms because no single container held everything I wanted to say. Poetry, prose, and performance taught one another how to move.

Which publishing path did you take, and why?

A small press suited the novella because it understood formally adventurous speculative work and could give a short book careful attention.

What was the hardest lesson?

Not every story has to explain its strangeness. Trusting the reader can be a structural choice, not an omission.

What does your working setup look like?

The setup changes with the form, but it usually begins with fragments—an image, a rhythm, a question—before a conventional outline appears.

What marketing actually worked?

Community conversations, readings, and other writers sharing the work have mattered more than trying to manufacture a single viral moment.

What would you tell a first-timer?

Follow the form the story is asking for. A work does not become more serious merely because it becomes longer.