Interview with Malavika Kannan

Despite her young age, teen author-activist Malavika Kannan has done it all. She is the proud founder of her own non-profit organization, the HomeGirl Project, an author, and a guest writer for top media companies, including Huffpost, Washington Post, Teen Vogue, and Buzzfeed. Her writing regarding politics, personal experiences, and female empowerment, has been read by millions of readers across the world. An undergraduate at Stanford University, Malavika is an advocate for the empowerment and rise of young women. At the age of 17, she led her high-school’s walkout, demanding gun reform after the tragic shooting in her hometown state of Florida. ‘In that moment, I forgot that I was nervous and scared. At that moment, I felt bulletproof. I felt like the future,” she writes in her debut HuffPost article.

We had the honor to interview Malavika and learn from her experiences that she had to share. She is truly an admiration to young women of color. We are so excited to share her story with The Eureka Journal!

The Eureka Journal: "Hi Malavika! Thank you so much for taking interest in answering our questions!"

Malavika Kannan: "Thank you so much for the opportunity to be interviewed!"

The Eureka Journal: "We would like to start the first part of the interview with talking about your journey as a writer. So, you have quite the finesse for writing pieces that are extremely eloquent and well-developed. How would you describe your journey as a writer in one word?"

Malavika Kannan: "The one word I would use to describe my journey as a writer is “lens”. I say that because writing has always been the lens through which I viewed the world, through which I was able to understand political and cultural development in my community, along with processing my culture and identity, often by putting myself in stories or writing about characters that I identified with."

While Malavika’s writings have been published by top companies and have sparked discussions regarding various topics, her debut novel, The Bookweaver’s Daughter, is releasing on September 8th, 2020. The book is a recipient of the National Scholastic Medal. It follows the journey of Reya, a young girl from the ancient Indian kingdom of Kasmira, on a quest to protect dangerous secrets from tyrants who strive to destroy the harmony of Kasmira. You can pre-order her book on Amazon with the link below!

https://www.amazon.com/Bookweavers-Daughter-Malavika-Kannan/dp/1939100410

The Eureka Journal: "Moving on to your debut novel, how was the storyline behind The Bookweaver’s Daughter developed? What was the hardest thing about the writing process?"

Malavika Kannan: "The storyline behind The Bookweaver’s Daughter was developed when I was really young. I actually had an idea for this book in its vaguest form when I was around 11 years old. I was also inspired by the book “Ink Heart” by Cornelia Funke and it really inspired me to dig in to the idea of writing and language and storytelling of a superpower, and what it means when young girls can use that power. I had the rough idea of creating a story about a girl who used writing to bring magic to life. It was about this girl who inherited power from her father, lived in a kingdom where magic was prohibited, and had to learn to weave her own destiny. That’s kind of the idea that I started off with, and as I grew up, the story grew up along with me. I was able to put names to the characters, develop plot lines, and develop conflicts, which all got deeper and longer the more I worked on it.

I would say that the hardest part about the writing process was that it was the first time I wrote novel. I think that there are a lot of growing pains while writing your first book. You are teaching yourself how to build a world, how to create characters, pace a plot line, and how to even turn your ideas into a definitive shape of a novel. There is also a process of writing that makes it pretty challenging to write it the first time, especially when learning how to time yourself as a writer, and figuring out what times encourage me to write. "

As a 17-year old, Malavika also started a non-profit organization striving to empower women and non-binary youth of color. Founded in 2018, The HomeGirl Project has provided these girls political resources and mentorship, preparing them to become tomorrow’s game-changers.

“I was tired of women being called the s-word, d-word, and every slur in between,” Malavika says. “In contrast, I loved the term “homegirl”, because it is a word used by girls to support other girls.”

"When you see movements empowered entirely by teenagers across the country, I would hesitate to say that teenagers aren't involved in making a difference in their communities,” she adds.

The Eureka Journal: "What challenges did you face with starting The HomeGirl Project as a teenager? What are your future plans for this non-profit organization?"

Malavika Kannan: "I think that it was a really interesting opportunity as a teenager and it was very important to me. I saw a problem in the world that women of color were not taken seriously in politics or the writing world. We had a lot of plans for our futures, but we weren’t given an opportunity to really speak out. So the main challenge was being able to start my own organization, managing a team, develop an online website, and any of the non-profit related stats. I’m actually no longer the executive director of the HomeGirl Project. However, my brilliant, talented friend Lulu is. I don’t directly oversee the future of The HomeGirl project anymore, but I hope that TheHomeGirl Project continues a force to amplify the voices of girls of color far into the future."

The Eureka Journal: "You mentioned that you named your nonprofit 'HomeGirl' because it is a term used by girls in solidarity with other girls. What does being a young woman of color mean to you, and how exactly do you strive to celebrate the other inspirational young women just like you?"

Malavika Kannan: "The idea of being a person of color, often in a political context, is this idea of being ‘othered’, being left outside a dominant narrative, or being excluded from positions of political power. When we talk about these experiences of persons of color, it’s often this idea of exclusion. But for me, being a person of color is not the experience of impression. Rather, it is the experience of solidarity with other people of color. It is this possibility in which we can develop our own cultures, our own political ideologies, and our own ways of thinking. This shared ability can make a better and more inclusive world."

Being an Indian American ourselves, we know that it's always hard to balance both sides of your life, with complexities forming regarding one’s true identity. So, we asked Malavika a couple of questions regarding her breakthrough HuffPost article, How Having A Name That No One Can Pronounce Taught Me Who I Really Am. The article broke records, as Malavika recounted her experiences while juggling her two identities.

The Eureka Journal: "In your breakthrough article, How Having A Name That No One Can Pronounce Taught Me Who I Really Am, we could all get a sense of your frustrations and ultimately the reason you connect so strongly with your Tamil culture. What has that experience taught you as a person? And what advice would you love to give to ABCD’s (American Born 'Confused' Desis) who are facing similar situations with identity complexes?"

Malavika Kannan: “The experience of writing that article did teach me quite a bit. It was my first time being able to write very authentically and candidly, and almost, humorously, about my experience as a diaspora American and what it means to be living at the intersection of two cultures, while learning to find value and acceptance in that position. The experience of being able to write all that out for a public audience, especially with an Indian-American editor, was really rewarding. Knowing that those stories we usually think of as ‘embarrassing’ actually mean so much to people was something was something huge for me to realize. Seeing the responses that people sent me about the article, I was able to understand my writing meant so much to them.

As for advice I would give to ABCD’s, I am still figuring that out, so it’s okay for you to always feel like a work-in-progress. It’s okay to be exploring your identity and finding these things because we were not given an instruction manual that comes with being a first generation immigrant in America. So it’s okay for everyone to live their own truths and have that be enough."

The Eureka Journal: "Now that you have established yourself as a writer, coming across haters is inevitable. How do you deal with negativity from critics/trolls online?"

Malavika Kannan: "Getting backlash from your writing is definitely not a pleasant experience. I tell many people, when dealing with online criticism, that you have to learn to be able to distinguish between haters and trolls, of whom you have no obligation to engage with. They thrive off of wasting our energy and emotional resources by trying to get us to educate them, when they really don’t want to learn. There is a block button for a reason and I don’t engage with haters.

But it’s also important to productively engage with constructive criticism, whether that is call-outs from members from marginalized communities, or someone who genuinely has something to teach to you. It is important to be humble and acknowledge that just because your writing has been published doesn’t make you an authority on a subject and doesn’t make you infallible. Understanding that writing is a community process and open to community feedback is also important."

Malavika was also a summer intern for the collegiate Congress legislative in DC in 2019. She was able to take in a first-hand view of how the federal government runs. She also took a photo with President Donald Trump, which went viral as a “meme” of sorts.

The Eureka Journal: "What have you learned from that life-changing experience? Also, what do you have to say about that famous picture with the POTUS?"

Malavika Kannan: "I was very blessed in the past to have gotten to spend a lot of time in Washington D.C. involved in various aspects of politics and government. Working for the congresswoman of Florida was a really great learning experience, as I got to see this democracy first-hand. I have always been looking in from the outside by working on campaigns, by working on activism and lobbying. And to see it from the inside by working with Florida’s first Asian American Congresswoman, Stephanie Murphy, was a pretty exciting experience.

As for the picture with the president, I was invited to the White House as part of the U.S. Senate Youth scholarship and I am really just blessed for that opportunity. As much as getting to meet any president was an honor, I also know that the current person in office has been extremely harmful to a lot of communities and I did not think I could be smiling in that picture. And it did result in a meme, which I think is hilarious, but also I don’t want to lose side with the fact that actual atrocities are happening under our watch and we have to do everything we can to stop them."

The Eureka Journal : "Lastly, what advice do you have for high schoolers who want to make a change in society through writing?"

Malavika Kannan: "First of all, knowing your power as a writer is very important. Toni Cade Bambara once said, and I am paraphrasing here, “The role of the artist or cultural worker is to make the revolution irresistible.” That’s what we do as writers. We take possibilities that seem so imaginary and turn such radical imagination into something others can hold on to, read about, and think about. We create discourse and we push cultural ideals forward. Even in my fiction, I create worlds where people can feel represented. As writers, we build empathy and connections. So you should know that power as a writer and cling on to it. Unfortunately, the artists of writing will have their hard moments. Your writing may be rejected, you can get stuck with writer’s block, or your writing won’t immediately receive the praise it deserves. So holding on to the central purpose amidst all the challenges of being a teen writer is important."

Malavika was accepted into various top-tier colleges, including Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, and Duke, but chose Stanford for its creative writing program and the relaxed lifestyle it promotes. She is majoring in English, with plans on minoring in racial studies. She is currently contemplating a career in writing, politics, or as a founder of a non-profit. Who knows, Malavika could be our next president!

The Eureka Journal: "Once again, thank you so much Malavika for your time and for sharing your story!"

Check out Malavika’s upcoming book and her website to learn more about her linked here! You can follow Malavika on her Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to her newsletter and her YouTube channel as well!

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