ABSTRACT
This personal essay shares a story of my journey as a writer of short stories. It demonstrates this journey through weaving together a web of complex nodes of connection, starting with reading in childhood. By reflecting on reading, writing and being read and using my debut collection Running and Other Stories (2013), the essay explores a range of intersecting topics: the process of having my work edited, editing writings of other writers, being deliberate about the ethics of editing other’s writings using black feminist praxis, learning formally about the short story through a structured postgraduate course, reading critiques of my writings by literary scholars, and receiving feedback on my writing from those who teach it. The essay concludes with an assertion that my wide-ranging reading and writing practices feed on each other and while nurturing each practice, also invite and welcome further imagination and creativity. Lastly, I share briefly on the next short story collection.
