Who are you?

I don’t know.

[Don’t say that, say something humble and brave, about wandering and not being lost and how I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. Quote a poet. Or a philosopher. Do not quote Star Trek. Please.]

I know who I am but I’m not going to tell you.

What do you write?

I write long fiction and short fiction. But mostly short fiction.

[Say literary fiction. Ethnic! I write ethnic literary fiction. I write ethnic literary fiction and magic realism. And Indian Writing in English, don’t forget to mention that. I write ethnic Indian magic literary realism English fiction. Writing.]

Actually I don’t write long fiction at all. That was a lie.

Why do you write what you write?

I write what I write because I believe I can find a cure for dengue fever through short stories.

[I write what I write because I am a magic golden rockstar.]

I write what I write because if I don’t, nothing will happen.

Why should we read what you write?

You should read what I write because there’s usually an insect in there somewhere. Moths. Sometimes butterflies. Usually moths though.

[You should read what I write because it will make you smarter and enlarge some parts of your body while it shrinks others. You should read my writing because it will save the whales. Every time someone reads what I write, a kitten dies. I mean it flies.]

And bewildered men. You get insects and bewildered men, what better reason do you need to read something?

Is the world a better place because of what you write?

No.

[Yes.]

No.

Ok, yes. Though there’s a really good chance that my writing has made everything a little bit worse on a global scale. But that’s just being egotistical, no?

Yes.

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Kuzhali Manickavel’s debut story collection Insects Are Just Like You and Me Except Some of Them Have Wings is now available via Amazon and Target.

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Previously on the Five Minute Interview.