Malavika Kannan
Throughout her childhood in suburban central Florida, Malavika Kannan ‘23 has been writing and reading fiction. When Kannan was eleven, she thought of the idea for her first novel, now called “The Bookweaver’s Daughter,” and finished the initial version in middle school. In this version, all the characters were white. As she grew up, Kannan also gained exposure to works written by women of color, which enabled her to rewrite her story with South Asian characters and environments.
“Fiction especially has always been a second home for me, it's been the thing that I've loved to do when I needed an escape from the world,” Kannan said. “[In high school,] I got really interested in magazine writing, op-ed writing, how writing could be harnessed towards political change, how it could be used to critically and imaginatively talk about race and culture and politics and identity and what it means to be a Gen Z South Asian woman.”
During her high school journalism experience, Kannan expanded her writing expertise, writing longer pieces for Teen Vogue, Washington Post, refinery29 and elsewhere. She also immersed herself in political organization for progressive Gen Z politics, such as the gun violence prevention movement and Women’s March National. She says that these experiences feeling isolated in the predominantly white and conservative area influenced her writing, in which she tends to write about young South Asian female protagonists “with a lot of fire and a lot of beliefs, but not necessarily always the outlets to put them into — girls who have to come into their power, girls who have a sense of what they want but aren't always able to get it.”
“As I was working nationally to organize young people, I could see how the issues that we had previously read about in dystopian fiction, like oppressive governments, people dying on the streets, teenage women having to rise up against these oppressive forces, not only be something in the realm of fiction, but something in the realm of real life as well,” Kannan said. “I was really interested in how fiction could mirror real life and also further it and enhance it.”
In her senior year of high school, she acquired a book contract and published her book the following September. Describing the experience as “an isolating process” and “an emotional rollercoaster,” she felt that she would have benefited from relatable mentors and knowledge about the publishing opportunity in her family. However, after she published the novel, she found herself less isolated and more supported by others who stood behind the concept of #OwnVoices, a Twitter hashtag movement used to recommend diverse books by diverse authors.
“Activists like Mia Khalifa promoted my book on TikTok and made it go viral, which was a surreal moment for me,” Kannan said. “I had friends and celebrities alike, pumping me up in my DMs. I was really honored by how many people were willing to support me and it affirmed my beliefs that the way that we move forward in terms of diversity and representation is by using our communal strengths to amplify the people who are trying to tell those stories.”
The concept of #OwnVoices and the resulting communal support aligns with Kannan’s definition of literary success: “literature being for the community it was written about, literature being about and enriching a world that is already enriched and literature as a way to create space and to illuminate the humanity and empathy of people.”
For Kannan, she wanted to illuminate Indian Hindu mythology in her magic system. The main character of her novel has the ability to write and speak and think things into existence, which is a power alluded to a lot in Indian mythology, according to Kannan. She has also seen it as a trend on TikTok called manifestation, which comes from Hindu mythic yoga practices. In addition, she also found inspiration in Shakti, or the Divine Feminine in Hindu mythology that affords women a unique and disruptive power. Along with this, she intentionally designated the most important relationship in the book as a friendship between the main character and her compassionate best friend.
“Female friendships, to me, are the most sacred of all relationships,” Kannan said. “I also want specifically for South Asian girls and girls of color in general to have the opportunity to enjoy the pleasure that we're all supposed to get from fantasy books with the heightened sense of implication, because of seeing someone like you in the book.”
“Fiction especially has always been a second home for me, it's been the thing that I've loved to do when I needed an escape from the world,” Kannan said. “[In high school,] I got really interested in magazine writing, op-ed writing, how writing could be harnessed towards political change, how it could be used to critically and imaginatively talk about race and culture and politics and identity and what it means to be a Gen Z South Asian woman.”
During her high school journalism experience, Kannan expanded her writing expertise, writing longer pieces for Teen Vogue, Washington Post, refinery29 and elsewhere. She also immersed herself in political organization for progressive Gen Z politics, such as the gun violence prevention movement and Women’s March National. She says that these experiences feeling isolated in the predominantly white and conservative area influenced her writing, in which she tends to write about young South Asian female protagonists “with a lot of fire and a lot of beliefs, but not necessarily always the outlets to put them into — girls who have to come into their power, girls who have a sense of what they want but aren't always able to get it.”
“As I was working nationally to organize young people, I could see how the issues that we had previously read about in dystopian fiction, like oppressive governments, people dying on the streets, teenage women having to rise up against these oppressive forces, not only be something in the realm of fiction, but something in the realm of real life as well,” Kannan said. “I was really interested in how fiction could mirror real life and also further it and enhance it.”
In her senior year of high school, she acquired a book contract and published her book the following September. Describing the experience as “an isolating process” and “an emotional rollercoaster,” she felt that she would have benefited from relatable mentors and knowledge about the publishing opportunity in her family. However, after she published the novel, she found herself less isolated and more supported by others who stood behind the concept of #OwnVoices, a Twitter hashtag movement used to recommend diverse books by diverse authors.
“Activists like Mia Khalifa promoted my book on TikTok and made it go viral, which was a surreal moment for me,” Kannan said. “I had friends and celebrities alike, pumping me up in my DMs. I was really honored by how many people were willing to support me and it affirmed my beliefs that the way that we move forward in terms of diversity and representation is by using our communal strengths to amplify the people who are trying to tell those stories.”
The concept of #OwnVoices and the resulting communal support aligns with Kannan’s definition of literary success: “literature being for the community it was written about, literature being about and enriching a world that is already enriched and literature as a way to create space and to illuminate the humanity and empathy of people.”
For Kannan, she wanted to illuminate Indian Hindu mythology in her magic system. The main character of her novel has the ability to write and speak and think things into existence, which is a power alluded to a lot in Indian mythology, according to Kannan. She has also seen it as a trend on TikTok called manifestation, which comes from Hindu mythic yoga practices. In addition, she also found inspiration in Shakti, or the Divine Feminine in Hindu mythology that affords women a unique and disruptive power. Along with this, she intentionally designated the most important relationship in the book as a friendship between the main character and her compassionate best friend.
“Female friendships, to me, are the most sacred of all relationships,” Kannan said. “I also want specifically for South Asian girls and girls of color in general to have the opportunity to enjoy the pleasure that we're all supposed to get from fantasy books with the heightened sense of implication, because of seeing someone like you in the book.”