Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl
About Author
Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl is a writer and editor. Her recent books include Beyonce (Knowles-Carter) and Nelson (Mandela), which are part of David Fickling Books' 'First Names' series of illustrated biographies.
Nansubuga has also worked on international development programmes, primarily in East and Southern Africa, for over a decade. Her clients include the World Bank, World Education, UNICEF and UNESCO.
Interview
Girl on the Fly (David Fickling Books)
April 2024
Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl introduces her new book, Girl on the Fly, about community, friendship and the challenges and joys of cultural heritage.
Girl on the Fly follows Kamaria, a 13-year-old American-Tanzanian who faces a series of changes in her life, and explores how she comes to embrace those changes. Above all the book celebrates the joy that can be found within our communities, families and close friendships.
Review: 'Girl on the Fly is a beautifully written coming-of-age story'
Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl introduces Girl on the Fly and tells us how her cultural heritage, as well as her love of running and close friendships, helped inspire the themes in Girl on the Fly:
Q&A with Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl, introducing Girl on the Fly
"I grew up within a community ethic and embraced the notion early on that we are all, somehow, interconnected."
1. Hello Nansubuga, thank you for joining us on ReadingZone. We wondered what brought you into writing for children and young people?
I started writing for children when I was pregnant with my daughter and couldn't find a picture book about Uganda, where my parents are from, that reflected the magic of the country in the way that I experienced it.
There was a range of children's books set in East African contexts that centered on lack or overcoming struggle. I suppose there were a few others. But not one of the picture books available to me at the time - this is ten years ago - featured the very real and everyday wonders of Uganda. So, I decided to try to write one.
In my 'other job', I write about global health for international development agencies and multilateral banks. Given this, my creative writing mainly takes place in the very early mornings before my kids are awake and on the weekends.
2. Can you tell us about your new book, Girl on the Fly?
Girl on the Fly is a celebratory story set in Philadelphia in 1992. It's about Kamaria Kessy, a 13-year-old Tanzanian-American girl, who is passionate about running track, her friends, and her family. What she is not passionate about is change.
Yet, at the end of the school year, she finds herself in an abrupt period of chaos. To start, she's anxious to win the state championship with her relay team before one of her friends moves away. She also feels unsettled by a conflict with her best friend, Odie. And when she learns that an aunt she's never met before is arriving from Tanzania in just a few days and she'll be forced to share her room, she feels completely overwhelmed.
Amidst so much change, Kam is scrambling to find her footing and has to figure out how to adjust to a new presence in the house, patch things up with her best friend, and find her own rhythm on and off the track.
"I am very interested in girlhood across cultures - because so much of what happens in girlhood
informs womanhood, which equally interests me."
3. What inspired this story of friendship, family and discovering one's roots?
Multiple inspirations wove themselves together and laid the foundation for the story. I ran track when I was younger. And while I loved the thrill of athletic competitions and the freedom of running, there was something about the camaraderie I experienced that was very special and wanted to capture in a story.
We had plenty of house guests from Uganda growing up, too. But in contrast to Kam, I loved the idea of them from the start! I also had (and continue to have) very heart-connected friendships. I was curious about when I first learned to value such close fellowship with women, and I traced it back to some of my early friendships, the community of Ugandan women in which I was raised, and the tight bonds I forged with my track teammates. In general, I am very interested in girlhood across cultures - because so much of what happens in girlhood informs womanhood, which equally interests me.
Ultimately, though, I wanted to try my hand at crafting a story that celebrated girlhood at this particular moment in time (1990s' golden era of hip hop, a period of widening representation of black characters on TV in the US) with the aim of it also being relevant for young people everywhere right now.
4. How did Kam's voice develop as you wrote the book, and why did you decide to write it in the first person?
Kam's voice and how she related to her friends came easily to me. Probably because I vividly (fondly!) remember being 13. In terms of the point of view, I think Kam's strong personality was well-suited to the first person. I also think it was important that the story inhabited the first-person perspective in order to convey, in a real sense, the highs and the lows of that age, which can arrive suddenly and with such vigor.
"Track represented more than just a physical activity for me when I was younger - it was an entry point to
finding freedom, finding myself, and building self-confidence."
5. Did you look back to your own adolescence for inspiration for Kam's story, such as her love of running? Why did you feel that running would work so well with the themes of the story?
I drew inspiration from my adolescence, for sure. Even now, I share many of Kam's passions - including running, music, rhythm, dancing, and being silly with my girlfriends.
In terms of the themes, because I am a runner through and through, I started there, knowing that I'd be able to write about what it felt like to be on the track. But because track represented more than just a physical activity for me when I was younger - it was an entry point to finding freedom, finding myself, and building self-confidence - it was the perfect avenue to explore teamwork, rhythm, and other lessons that come along with the high-stakes / high-pressure environment of sports.
6. Why was it important that Kam finds out more about her Tanzanian family and that this is celebrated through the story? How did you research this?
I was born in the US, but my family is from Uganda. Like Kam, I grew up an ocean away from my country of origin. Unlike Kam, however, I grew up in a tight-knit Ugandan-American community in Boston. And so while I had geographic distance from Uganda, so much of the culture was made available to me.
That experience of being steeped in Ugandan culture - the food, the language (although I am not fluent in Luganda), the ceremonies - shaped me immeasurably. I grew up within a community ethic and embraced the notion early on that we are all, somehow, interconnected. On the lighter side, I grew up with endless laughter, family/community parties, unforgettable feasts, and so much adventure that, in hindsight, I am in awe of it all.
One of the ways in which I was able to introduce just how important a community can be in shaping our lives and holding us up was to emphasise Kam's initial resistance to and discomfort with the presence of Aunt Rose and to take readers on the journey as their relationship unfolded.
In terms of my own relationship with Tanzania, it's where I currently live and also where I lived when I met my husband more than ten years ago.
"A thread that I enjoyed following through with was the idea of rhythm and how it shows up in just about everything
- in music, on the track, in heartbeats...I do believe rhythm is everything."
7. Do you have a favourite moment in the book, or a thread that you enjoyed following through?
I don't have a favourite moment in the book, but a thread that I enjoyed following through with was the idea of rhythm and how it shows up in just about everything - in music, on the track, in heartbeats, in the way Kam and her friends danced and joked together, in Kam's rituals, in how Aunt Rose described nature, in how life ebbs and flows. I suppose, like Kam, I do believe rhythm is everything.
8. Other than a great story, is there anything you'd especially like your readers to take from Girl on the Fly?
I think one thing that I'd like readers to take from the story is the idea that joy is available to all of us, despite the many challenges we may experience. Often times, we needn't look any further than our immediate orbit and, of course, ourselves, to find it.
I'd also like readers, both young and old, to walk away from the story reminded of the importance of laughter, lightness, and face-to-face fellowship. These are not things to be dismissed. They are not silly or unimportant. They provide an important bulwark against the inevitable chaos in the world. Indeed, they give us the strength to face it.
"I find inspiration almost everywhere. It's always a walk, a thought, a song, a breath away."
9. Are you planning any more stories about Kam and her friends? What are you writing currently?
Initially, I felt quite strongly that Kam's story would start and end with this book. Only recently have I thought about what happens to her in the future. Ultimately, though, that's up to the readers to decide. Currently, I'm in the thick of several drafts of novels for middle-grade and YA readers.
10. What do you enjoy doing when you're away from your desk, and where do you go to seek out inspiration for a new story?
When I am away from my desk, I am usually reading, running, or taking very long walks in nature - which is just outside my doorstep. And my kids keep me on my toes.
I find inspiration almost everywhere. It's always a walk, a thought, a song, a breath away…
Girl on the Fly
