Born in Kenya and recently immigrated to the U.S., author and Brown MFA graduate Shingai Njeri Kagunda believes fiction was never meant to be boxed into neat and tame compartments. Just as the real world is messy, so too should fiction. Well, authentic fiction at least. As a writer, Shingai’s approach has always been an eclectic one, aiming to reconcile the magical with the realist, the past with the present and while simultaneously affirming her own, unique identity in a world that for too long has ignored the presence of those like her. She is the author of & This is How to Stay Alive, her debut novel that tackles grief and healing through the vehicles of fantasy and time-travel, as well as multiple short stories. Join her in this very first episode of the Frivolous Comma Podcast as she dissects Western versus Non-Western storytelling, demonstrates the power of fiction in dismantling the effects of colonization, and shares her insights on how to persevere as an aspiring writer.