Interviewing Gigi Ganguly
Hellooo!!
I recently had the pleasure of reviewing the fantastic Biopeculiar - Stories of An Uncertain World by Gigi Ganguly a hugely inventive collection of short fiction tales ranging from murder investigations in bird communities to the far reaches of space and undiscovered worlds. I had the please of welcoming Gigi to the blog to discuss the collection and a few other things
How do you like to booktempt people into reading Biopeculiar – Stories of An Uncertain World?
I usually tell people that Biopeculiar is filled with odd little stories about the natural world. And then I add a bit about the host of characters inside the book: conniving bees, malicious trees, and depressed crows. The focus, I tell people, is both on the inner world of animals as well as the human-animal relationship.
Many of these stories see an interaction between humans and an environment alien or otherwise. What attracts you to this theme?
I love being surrounded by trees and birds, flowers in bloom, small animals (almost always squirrels) in a rush. The fact that they have lives of their own, that they have their own perspective of the world, and that I’m here with them – living on Earth at the same time as them – brings me a lot of joy.
It is so very unfortunate that we only get a glimpse of this on our holidays or weekend breaks, and that so much of our lives are wasted inside concrete, grey offices.
Biopeculiar itself started off when I was away from the city, when I was at a cottage in the Himalayas with nature all around. Back then I didn’t have a theme in mind, but the environment I was in must have affected me and made me yearn for ideas around trees, birds, and animals.
And of course, the fact that climate change still isn’t being addressed as the top priority in many, if not most, countries, is a cause of worry. In the hope of votes, all governments care about is “development”. Even if it comes at the price of cutting down thousands of trees, they do not care.
All of this drew me to this theme, consciously and subconsciously.
Your stories also sometimes centre on non-human characters and in particular animals? How do you approach creating an non-human character?
I’ve grown up with dogs my entire life, and now I have two cats, so I’ve always felt more at ease in the company of animals than in the company of people. Each and every dog and cat I’ve come across has had their own personalities, quirks, likes and dislikes. And I think that has helped me create distinct animal and non-animal characters.
Research has been essential too. In the case of “Corvid Inspector”, for example, I’ve had to read up as much as possible about corvids – about the things they are well known for, about the studies that have been done to figure out their levels of intelligence. The story is not scientifically accurate by any means, but I’ve tried my best to create corvid characters with my own twist on their natural behaviours and inclinations.
There is a huge level of variety in the collection crossing and merging all sorts of genres. What do you enjoy about that kind of fluidity?
My favourite thing about the speculative fiction genre in general is the freedom it allows me to make my own rules for a setting. So, within the stories themselves, I follow whatever path my mind takes me. Even if an idea doesn’t make sense in the moment, I try to think of ways to explain it within the logic of the mini universe I’ve created.
It is this freedom that lets me come up with all sorts of ideas – some come to me in the form of story titles and others come to me via a podcast, a news article, something someone once said. I enjoy bending rules, bringing in a new perspective or twisting the perspective at the very end.
I think most of my stories are birthed from the fluid concept of “what if?” What if Game of Thrones was set inside a colony of bees (“A Storm of Stings”). What if we could herd clouds like we herd sheep? (“Head in the Clouds”). What if certain gifted individuals could summon rain with their singing? (“Losing”).
How is the Indian Science Fiction and Fantasy scene? Any authors you recommend we should be reading?
In India, SSF is probably not as popular as the romance and mythological genres of books. The publishers behind Biopeculiar, Westland, have recently started a new imprint (called IF) that will be dedicated to SFF titles – my book is the first to be published under this. IF is the first of its kind in India, and my hope is that this will lead to more and more readers opening their doors to SFF.
And yes, there are plenty of Indian / Indian-origin authors people should read: Samit Basu, Indra Das, Gautam Bhatia, SB Divya, Tashan Mehta, Lavanya Lakshminarayan – there are many more! Quite a few of them have recently been nominated for prestigious awards, such as the Locus Awards and the Arthur C Clarke Awards.
What else can we look forward to from you in the future and in this world of weird social media where can we find out more?
Right now I’m working on a novel which has themes of AI and consciousness. After that I’ll work on a historical fantasy set in India. I also have a bunch of ideas for two more themed short story collections.
I can be found on:
Twitter/X: @gigiganguly
Instagram: @gigiwrites42
Bluesky: gigiganguly.bsky.social
I also have a website: https://gigiganguly.wordpress.com/
(Yes, I drew all the illustrations for it. :D)
If there was one book, not your own, that you wish you could get everyone to read what would it be and why?
Circe by Madeline Miller. I came upon the book by chance at a library, and I loved it so much that I bought a copy as well. And then I bought another and gifted it to my mum. Whenever I get the chance, I tell people to read the book.
In a way the book could be considered a mythological bildungsroman – an unlucky child who is tossed out of her home and then must build a life of her own. Mythic / heroic characters from well-known stories enter her life and leave. And she herself learns to stand up for herself, and find happiness despite the world and the gods telling her she doesn’t deserve it.
The themes of the book are such that it would appeal to everybody. Even if you don’t know much about Greek mythology, the plot is so cohesive that you don’t feel lost or confused at any time.
This book also has one of my favourite opening and ending lines. Just beautiful.
