Chicago-based writer, Mary Anne Mohanraj has done everything. She has published erotica, poems, politically charged-essays, science fiction, and even her own recipe books inspired from her Sri Lankan heritage. And that’s not it. She even founded Hugo-nominated and World Fantasy Award-winning speculative literature magazine Strange Horizons, and serves as Executive Director of both DesiLit (desilit.org) and the Speculative Literature Foundation (speclit.org). When she’s not writing, she is a clinical Associate Professor in English and Global Asian Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and was also elected in 2021 to the Oak Park – River Forest D200 school board.

Currently, Mohanraj, is gearing up for the release of her memoir, ‘Tornado: A Breast Cancer Log’ which will be launched at South Asia Institute during our literary event, “South Asian Literary Event and Launch Party,” scheduled for Saturday, October 21, 2023.

Before the big day arrives, South Asia Institute caught up with Mohanraj, who shared her insights into her writing process, her love for gardening, and what prompted her to publish her first-hand account as a breast cancer survivor. Here’s what she had to say:

Your extensive career includes writing multiple books, editing journals, and teaching writing. What drew you to the world of writing, and how do you continually find inspiration to be involved in the various aspects of it?

There are usually two reasons why I end up writing. First, I tend to write when I'm trying to figure out what I think about something -- so, maybe I'm working through something that happened to me in the past, or I'm dealing with family issues in the present, or I'm thinking on a larger national or global scale. I think more clearly when I write it out; surprisingly, sometimes poetry and fiction provide a clearer lens than a nonfiction essay might. Of course, once I've written something, I could just keep it in my journal. But I learned long ago that I am hopeless at keeping a journal unless I get to share it with someone -- I need an audience for motivation. That's why I started blogging online in December 1995 (my blog is the third oldest on the internet), and why I've kept it up for so long, through dating and parenting and teaching and cancer treatment. Trying to communicate what I've figured out for myself with the rest of the world, hoping it will be interesting / helpful / inspiring to at least one other person.

Your upcoming book, 'Tornado: A Breast Cancer Log,' holds personal significance to your life. Could you share why it was essential for you to bring this memoir to life and what message you hope it conveys to readers?

The memoir is a lightly edited assemblage of the public blog entries I posted online (on Facebook and other social media), from the time of diagnosis through about two years of treatment. When I was keeping the blog originally, I was partly motivated by how much silence there still is about serious health issues -- there's a stigma around discussing such things, and one that is perhaps even stronger in the South Asian community, perhaps because of arranged marriage culture. And with breast cancer in particular, there's the added issue that you have to say the word 'breast' to talk about it, and that's taboo too. Which is all a huge problem, because people facing a breast cancer diagnosis need information, need support, need to be able to talk about what they're going through. Often when I write publically about issues that others might normally consider private, it's because I'm trying to break down some of those taboos, a little bit. If there's a problem -- let's talk about it. Maybe someone listening might be able to help. You don't have to do this on your own.

Your work has fearlessly delved into topics related to sexuality and queerness. As a queer writer, how do you view your role in providing a platform for these issues and contributing to their normalization among readers?

Some of this is just what I discussed in the last answer -- trying to normalize the conversation. I also think there's probably a real value to people seeing me -- a bisexual, poly woman -- who is also a soccer mom, a professor, someone who cooks and gardens and goes to PTA meetings. There's often a fear that if you don't follow a pretty narrow path, you'll be cast out of society. It's understandable that parents would worry about that for their children, that when their teenager comes to them and comes out as queer, the parents' first response is fear that their child won't be safe, won't find happiness. I hope my writing can help show that you can be queer (or have ADHD, like me, or otherwise diverge from the perhaps mythical 'norm'), and still build a rich, happy, thriving life. As for safety -- if we want our children to be safe, we have to keep building a safer world for them, and part of that is being able to talk about what is putting them in danger. Often, it's the silence, fear, and stigma that puts them most at risk.

Queer narratives are often underrepresented in mainstream literature, especially when it comes to South Asian authors. Can you recommend five books by South Asian authors that authentically center queer experiences and treat them with dignity?

I love this question. I'm going to give you a very personal list -- five writers who matter to me. (They don't all write books.)

• Shyam Selvadurai wrote “Funny Boy”, which was the first time I saw queerness represented in a Sri Lankan context -- it's a wonderful book, and if you read it, I'm pretty sure you'll love it.

• Gowri Koneswaran is a queer Eelam Tamil American poet, whose work has been the recipient of many awards (she's also a childhood friend of mine, because the Sri Lankan American community is small!). Her work has appeared in many anthologies, and you can find poems (and videos of her performing her work) online. One of her most powerful poems centers on the conflict in Sri Lanka, "A Message of the Emergency Broadcasting System." For queer content, check out "Poetic translation," part of the Conclusions and Findings project.

• Minal Hajratwala edited an anthology, “Out! Stories from the New Queer India”, which is a terrific collection (and I'm not just saying that because it includes a story of mine). She also has many poems and essays available online, and I often teach her terrific nonfiction memoir / history book, “Leaving India”, which tells the story of the Indian diaspora through several generations of her own family. The final chapter focuses on her own life as a queer woman.

• I'm really enjoying Tasha Suri's fantasy trilogy, starting with “The Jasmine Throne” -- set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies. Book two is waiting on my Kindle for whenever I have a free moment!

• SJ Sindu's brand new graphic novel, “Shanti”, does a brilliant job of exploring queer issues in a way children can understand, but which adults will also enjoy.

Your Sri Lankan heritage is a significant part of your identity. How has this cultural background influenced your writing, and in what ways does it manifest in your work?

I was born in Sri Lanka, and came to the U.S. when I was two years old. My parents emphasized assimilation, as many immigrants did at the time, and so I was schooled in English; they never expected that I would lose my Tamil, but sadly, I did. I can understand and follow family conversations, what I think of as 'kitchen Tamil' --- if we're talking about food, or about how this girl got into trouble with that boy, I can follow along, but can't speak. I don't have the vocabulary to understand a news report, though. Nonetheless, Sri Lanka has loomed large in my life. We went back every few years when I was younger, to spend summers with the grandparents, and as an adult, I've tried to keep that up. My last trip there was in 2019, when I took my daughter to Sri Lanka for the first time -- I wanted her to fall in love with it, so I admit, it was mostly what I thought of as a Sri Lankan princess experience -- lots of elephants, ocean, and ice cream. There'll be time for her to engage with the complexities.

The conflict there has, of course, had a huge effect on my Tamil family. My grandmother's house was firebombed (she had taken refuge in a nearby convent), and many of my aunts and uncles came first to Canada, then America, as refugees. One of my aunts, in her sixties, was forced to hike through the Vanni (the jungle) for miles without sufficient food or water. When I wrote Bodies in Motion (Sri Lankan American immigrant stories, following two families to America down separate but interlinked family lines), the war hovers in the background, and a few stories engage with it directly. A father whose daughter runs off to join the Tigers, a queer old woman who is shot in the fighting. These days, I'm mostly writing science fiction, and my Jump Space universe centers on South Asians in space, at a time when the first interstellar war is about to break out. Tensions are rising, and fear of the Other drives the conflict. My novella, The Stars Change, is inspired by the events of Black July, when thousands of Tamils were killed by violent mobs -- but also when some Sinhalese people gave shelter, at the risk of their own lives, to their Tamil neighbors. The stories I'm writing now (which you can find on my webpage) and the novels in progress continue to delve into that conflict.

I suppose you could say that Sri Lanka haunts me.

On a lighter note, my Sri Lankan cookbooks came out of my love for the food (it's the best in the world, fight me!), and for my desire to make sure that my mixed race children would have a way to learn this part of their heritage. Some of the poetry I exhibited at South Asia Institute is drawn from that work as well, such as the poem, "Homesick."

Beyond your literary pursuits, you have a deep passion for gardening and plants. Your social media posts are filled with pictures from your gardens. How has your love for gardening complemented your role as a writer, and do you find any parallels between the two?

Gardening keeps me sane. I can be an impatient person -- I want to fix the world, and I want to do it now. Gardening teaches me that growth is a slow, complicated process. We will have failures, we will have poor harvests and seasons of blight. Sometimes a single frost will take out all the peach buds, and that's a hundred peaches we won't get to enjoy next summer. But the tree's roots are strong, and if you feed it rich soil, give it a little care, it will survive, and thrive. Every day, I try to make it out to my garden, to do a little deadheading, or weeding, or planting. To take photos of the flowers and delight in their brief beauty. Writing can be very much an 'in-your-head' activity. Gardening pairs beautifully with it, because it moves your body, and quiets your brain. Sometimes I can think better after a little quiet.

A picture from Mary Anne Mohanraj’s garden.. Photo by Mary Anne Mohanraj

As an accomplished writer, what advice or suggestions do you have for aspiring authors looking to embark on their writing journeys and make a mark in the world of literature?

You have something else no one else has -- your unique perspective, and your unique voice. That is your treasure, and nothing can take it from you -- not the vagaries of the market, or the emergence of AI writing, or even your parents. Tell your stories, make them as true and honest as you can, write the parts that scare you. Readers know. They know when you're speaking authentically, from your heart, and they respond to that.

And remember, this work is hard, and lonely, and isolating. Look for your community -- other writers to support you, to lift you up. Do the same for them. Be good literary citizens, and help build the artistic landscape that supports us all. It's easy to start thinking this is a competition, that you're scrambling for your piece of the pie. What you actually want to do is grow the pie. Host an open mic, put out a chapbook, volunteer as a first reader for an indie lit. mag, heck -- start a lit mag yourself! Make a bigger, better pie, and there will be plenty of readers for all.

There's a whole world full of people who need your stories.