By Ashley Sim
The power of hope and family love. These were at the core of motivation for Kuching-born novelist Nadia Mikail for her debut young adult novel, ‘The Cats We Meet Along the Way’, which recently catapulted her to global literary stardom.
The 26-year-old wrote her award-winning novel during the global lockdown three years ago, while studying in the United Kingdom (UK), inspired by the uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic and the emotional toll of being separated from her family in Kuching.
‘The Cats We Meet Along the Way’ was chosen as the winner of the Older Readers category as well as the overall Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2023, which is considered to be one of the most prestigious awards in the children’s book industry.
A prize of £5,000 (approximately RM27,541.72) was also awarded to Nadia in recognition of her outstanding literary ability and as a fitting reward for all of her hard work.
“People occasionally send me pictures of my book in a bookstore, which still seems unreal to me because I’ve always wished for my book to be in a bookstore. But now that it has occurred, I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that it is happening,” she said in an exclusive interview with DayakDaily, still giddy with joy over her victory.
Readers of all ages have connected with Nadia’s writing because of the authenticity with which she portrays the raw emotions and complexities of navigating life during trying times.
Importance of family at a time of catastrophe
In ‘The Cats We Meet Along the Way’, Aisha, the 17-year-old protagonist, has not seen her sister June in over two years. With only nine months left before a global catastrophe will wipe out all human life, Aisha and her mother, Esah, make the decision to track down June in the hopes of making up for lost time.
The group, which comprises Aisha, Esah, Walter (Aisha’s boyfriend), Walter’s parents, and Fleabag the stray cat, embarks on a road trip through Malaysia in a campervan in search of June and emotional reconciliation.
Nadia has woven a complex and heartfelt story that deals with issues of family, resiliency, and survival.
“I wrote that story because I missed my sister and family so much during my first year in the UK. Then, at the end of my first year, the pandemic occurred, so I included a possible apocalypse in the story and what would happen,” she explained of her motivation to pen a tale with a familial focus.
She revealed the story hit close to home because it included many fond memories of trips to different states and cities in Malaysia, as well as her hometown of Kuching.
Aisha’s journeys are reflected in Nadia’s story by way of an adorable hand-drawn map that is located at the beginning of the novel and shows Kuching (where Aisha’s family used to live), Penang, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, and Melaka.
Cats have nine lives
The title of Nadia’s novel, ‘The Cats We Meet Along the Way’, gave me pause for thought. Like many readers, I assumed that her story would feature a large number of cats.
“A lot of people have asked me this because they say there’s only one cat in the book, but it’s more like a metaphor for several things.
“First, it’s a metaphor for all the things the main character has loved and treasured in her life and how she will have to deal with them, like basically saying goodbye to them because the world is ending.
“So it’s just a cat that follows them as a metaphor for that, and I believe it’s also a metaphor for survival. Also, cats are symbols of survival.”
When asked why she chose cats for her story out of all the other animals, she replied: “I think that cats are very hardy, they’re very survivalist creatures.”
Nadia has a point, and the old saying ‘cats have nine lives’ is sort of true—cats are pretty good at surviving.
A love for reading and debating
An alumna of SMK St Teresa Kuching, Nadia grew up devouring books and her favourites include The Lord of the Rings, Good Omens, and Sherlock Holmes, among others.
She named Louisa May Alcott, author of ‘Little Women’, when asked which authors influenced her work.
“I really like how she writes about the importance of family, community, and living a good life. I think those are the themes that I write about the most. So I would say that she inspired me a lot.”
Before releasing her first novel, Nadia penned a story called ‘Pontianak, Risen’ published in ‘KL Noir: Magic’. The character exploration was inspired by the ghost stories her grandmother used to tell. She has had pieces published in online magazines and journals, and her short story, ‘Facts about Stars’, was featured at the George Town Literary Festival in 2020.
In her reflections on her time in high school, Nadia related how her numerous close friends helped create a positive learning environment and how much she had enjoyed competing in the Swinburne Sarawak Debate Championship.
The sweet girl who believes in making the world better
Th King’s College London alumna will be taking her solicitor’s exam this year, as she hopes to use her legal training for the greater good of society.
Even though she was attending law school and working on publishing her first novel at the same time, she found solace in writing, where it kept her company and helped calm her nerves during the first lockdown.
“Law is a different type of interest because it is complex and fascinating, but writing has been my passion ever since I was a child, and I have always written stories. I recall writing stories with my sister, including ones about our toys.”
When asked about her desire to pursue law, she said: “I think it’s important for me to be able to help the community by pursuing a legal career. Therefore, I intend to specialise in an area of law that can truly assist people.”
Nadia’s aspiration to be a part of the world’s justice system is something she strives for on a deeply personal level, which has left a rather melancholy tinge in her worldview.
“I believe there is a lot that can be done to improve the state of the world. I suppose this makes me a bit naive, but I still think most people are basically good at heart.
“We can make things better as humanity in general. We can make things better if we continue to try to make each other’s lives better. And I suppose it depends on how much we care for one another, which I hope is a great deal.
“And I think it’s important that we see a better world even when things seem impossible in systems we’re trapped in, rather than being cynical and saying, ‘Oh, we’re trapped in this system’.”
Throughout my entire conversation with Nadia, I have been struck by her infectiously positive attitude and beautiful smile. Despite her sweet and shy demeanour, she is actually quite the tough cookie.
As she put it, “I think it’s important to maintain an optimistic perspective and tackle the world’s ills with all the faith and determination one can muster,” I was also impressed by her desire to fight for a better future.
Future work and ideas in the pipeline
‘If I were to ever write a spin-off for my novel, I would write about Aisha’s sister June, who left the family a few years ago to find herself. I would love to write about where she went and what she did,” Nadia said when I asked if she ever considered writing a spin-off featuring another character from her novel.
The author also expressed her desire to write a second novel in the future.
“The first draft itself didn’t take very long, just a few months. It was quite short, but it was the editing and the rewriting that took a long time for me because I have major writer’s block when it comes to going back and like, rewriting scenes because I don’t like rewriting my own writing,” she explained when asked how long it took her to complete ‘The Cats We Meet Along the Way’.
Just keep writing
Like the phrase ‘just keep swimming’ from the Disney/Pixar animated film Finding Nemo, Nadia advised aspiring young writers to ‘just keep writing’.
“I would say that the one thing that has helped my writing a lot is just to keep writing. It doesn’t have to be like new original stories each time. I wrote a lot of fan fiction when I was younger, and I feel like that really helped my writing.
“No matter how you write, I think it’s just important to keep writing because it’s a skill like any other. So, if you stop doing it for a while, you’ll get rusty. So, yeah, just keep writing.”
— DayakDaily
