Kanya D'Almeida, who was recently shortlisted for the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, is an established author and journalist who discovered her passion for writing in a – as she puts it – very cliched way. Writing has always been a lifelong passion for her, and she began at a very young age.
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Kanya D'Almeida[/caption]
Describing her journey into her career, D’Almeida said: “When I was six, I wrote a little book, which was like a joke to my family, but it became the trope in the family; everyone thought ‘ah, she’s a writer now’.” She added that she carried that with her, and continued to enjoy it up until her adult years.
D’Almeida explained that she did write during her undergrad years, but was never thrilled with what she was churning out. “I never submitted my work or tried to make it public. Midway, I changed direction – I was always interested in creative writing, but after my bachelor’s, I got into journalism, and was in that field for about 10 years.”
Giving us some insight into her career as journalist, she explained that a lot of her creativity and interest in writing went into reporting, which she said was interesting because when one reports, there is no need to make up the world – it's already there for you – one just needs to make it sound engaging and interesting.
“When covering fields like politics, creativity is especially important. I was at the United Nations for a while, so I had to find new ways of telling old and difficult stories,” D’Almeida added.
In 2015, after many years in journalism, she felt the need to revisit creative writing, which led her to apply to a few masters in creative writing. “I was rejected from many programmes because they are very competitive, but I did get accepted into Columbia, which I was really surprised by, and quite thrilled at the same time.”
Colombia didn't offer her much financial aid, so she had to scramble to obtain a way to take up the offer, however she added that her time there was an incredible experience: “I never really had a professor who has been able to teach creative writing. I’ve had professors who introduced me to great literature and broadened my reading and horizons, but in terms of the actual craft of writing, I had one professor who I had one class with that made me want to take his classes for the next two years because he captured the essence of writing.” She named the Professor – Victor LaValle – who is a very well-known writer in the US, and stated that she is honoured to have been able to study under him.
We spoke to her about her great achievement this year – getting shortlisted for the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for her book I Cleaned The ----. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from any of the Commonwealth’s 54 Member States, and one of the 25 short stories from the short list belongs to D’Almeida. Describing to us all the emotions running through her head when she found out about being shortlisted, she said: “I thought it was a mistake. I received the email and shared the news with my father, and we had to ask ourselves if someone was pranking me. Now that the news has sunk in, it’s a very proud moment for me, and reading through some of the other writers submissions, they all sound so exciting and different, and that's so thrilling for me to be included on a list with authors from such diverse writing backgrounds. That made me wonder what about my story stood out to the judges.”
She added that she is trying not to think about it too much and is just enjoying the moment as she doesnt know who will win the prize. For her, being shortlisted is in itself, quite a big deal.
D’Almeida was reluctant to reveal the whole plot to us, as the story is not yet published, but she did share enough details to intrigue us. The story is about a woman who spends 20 years cleaning human waste – that was her job. In the story, she comes into a home for women who have nowhere to go, who have no family, who have no one to care for them in their later years in life, and she's recounting her whole life story to an old spinster, basically unfolding what her life has been like cleaning human waste for 20 years.
Talking about the title of her story, she commented that she left the last word blank to leave it ambiguous. She also revealed to us that she was not in the best of mental states when she wrote the book, as her baby had just been born, and she was having a really difficult time adjusting to motherhood. “The story actually incorporates a bit of that and describes the challenges of motherhood, and the different forms a mother can take, and the relationship you can have with a baby.”
She explained that she had to nurse her baby which required her to be up the whole night, so she had to hold him with one hand, and type the story out on her phone with the other. The lengths she had to go through to write this story was immense, and her hard work definitely paid off for her. She also commented that when she has an idea for a story, it presents itself to her. “I see the whole arc of the story, and then I have to make it happen on the page.”
We asked her if she had anything interesting planned for the rest of the year, to which she said she has a set of short stories in the works. “This recognition has given me the fuel to pursue this collection. The collection is about women and their relationship with each other as daughters and mothers, as sisters, mother, friends, and lovers. I want to depict why society deems women as ‘mad’. I see the expression ‘that bloody woman is mad’ getting thrown around a lot, and I want to understand the sentiments behind it. There's always a reason for women to act the way they do.”
She is also pursuing her passion project which is her podcast: The Darkest Light, that portrays motherhood. She has already completed her first season, where she spoke to other mothers about the struggles and challenges, and the good aspects of being a mom, and is in the works of producing her second season. She is unsure when she will be able to put out the second season, but for the time being, this is all she has in the works.
Main image: Kanya D’Almeida at a fiction reading at the City of Asylum Bookstore in Pittsburgh, with the Afro Yaqui Music Collective. Photo credit: Nejma Nefertiti
Kanya D'Almeida[/caption]
Describing her journey into her career, D’Almeida said: “When I was six, I wrote a little book, which was like a joke to my family, but it became the trope in the family; everyone thought ‘ah, she’s a writer now’.” She added that she carried that with her, and continued to enjoy it up until her adult years.
D’Almeida explained that she did write during her undergrad years, but was never thrilled with what she was churning out. “I never submitted my work or tried to make it public. Midway, I changed direction – I was always interested in creative writing, but after my bachelor’s, I got into journalism, and was in that field for about 10 years.”
Giving us some insight into her career as journalist, she explained that a lot of her creativity and interest in writing went into reporting, which she said was interesting because when one reports, there is no need to make up the world – it's already there for you – one just needs to make it sound engaging and interesting.
“When covering fields like politics, creativity is especially important. I was at the United Nations for a while, so I had to find new ways of telling old and difficult stories,” D’Almeida added.
In 2015, after many years in journalism, she felt the need to revisit creative writing, which led her to apply to a few masters in creative writing. “I was rejected from many programmes because they are very competitive, but I did get accepted into Columbia, which I was really surprised by, and quite thrilled at the same time.”
Colombia didn't offer her much financial aid, so she had to scramble to obtain a way to take up the offer, however she added that her time there was an incredible experience: “I never really had a professor who has been able to teach creative writing. I’ve had professors who introduced me to great literature and broadened my reading and horizons, but in terms of the actual craft of writing, I had one professor who I had one class with that made me want to take his classes for the next two years because he captured the essence of writing.” She named the Professor – Victor LaValle – who is a very well-known writer in the US, and stated that she is honoured to have been able to study under him.
We spoke to her about her great achievement this year – getting shortlisted for the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for her book I Cleaned The ----. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded annually for the best piece of unpublished short fiction from any of the Commonwealth’s 54 Member States, and one of the 25 short stories from the short list belongs to D’Almeida. Describing to us all the emotions running through her head when she found out about being shortlisted, she said: “I thought it was a mistake. I received the email and shared the news with my father, and we had to ask ourselves if someone was pranking me. Now that the news has sunk in, it’s a very proud moment for me, and reading through some of the other writers submissions, they all sound so exciting and different, and that's so thrilling for me to be included on a list with authors from such diverse writing backgrounds. That made me wonder what about my story stood out to the judges.”
She added that she is trying not to think about it too much and is just enjoying the moment as she doesnt know who will win the prize. For her, being shortlisted is in itself, quite a big deal.
D’Almeida was reluctant to reveal the whole plot to us, as the story is not yet published, but she did share enough details to intrigue us. The story is about a woman who spends 20 years cleaning human waste – that was her job. In the story, she comes into a home for women who have nowhere to go, who have no family, who have no one to care for them in their later years in life, and she's recounting her whole life story to an old spinster, basically unfolding what her life has been like cleaning human waste for 20 years.
Talking about the title of her story, she commented that she left the last word blank to leave it ambiguous. She also revealed to us that she was not in the best of mental states when she wrote the book, as her baby had just been born, and she was having a really difficult time adjusting to motherhood. “The story actually incorporates a bit of that and describes the challenges of motherhood, and the different forms a mother can take, and the relationship you can have with a baby.”
She explained that she had to nurse her baby which required her to be up the whole night, so she had to hold him with one hand, and type the story out on her phone with the other. The lengths she had to go through to write this story was immense, and her hard work definitely paid off for her. She also commented that when she has an idea for a story, it presents itself to her. “I see the whole arc of the story, and then I have to make it happen on the page.”
We asked her if she had anything interesting planned for the rest of the year, to which she said she has a set of short stories in the works. “This recognition has given me the fuel to pursue this collection. The collection is about women and their relationship with each other as daughters and mothers, as sisters, mother, friends, and lovers. I want to depict why society deems women as ‘mad’. I see the expression ‘that bloody woman is mad’ getting thrown around a lot, and I want to understand the sentiments behind it. There's always a reason for women to act the way they do.”
She is also pursuing her passion project which is her podcast: The Darkest Light, that portrays motherhood. She has already completed her first season, where she spoke to other mothers about the struggles and challenges, and the good aspects of being a mom, and is in the works of producing her second season. She is unsure when she will be able to put out the second season, but for the time being, this is all she has in the works.
Main image: Kanya D’Almeida at a fiction reading at the City of Asylum Bookstore in Pittsburgh, with the Afro Yaqui Music Collective. Photo credit: Nejma Nefertiti