Why should I subscribe to Women of Letters?
I write here mostly about the Great Books, but not in a Dead Poet’s Society literary appreciation sort of way. I wish that I could do that, but I just find it boring. I’m not your English teacher! Mostly I write about the Great Books phenomenon itself: the place in the world for autodidacts who engage independently with what Matthew Arnold called “the greatest that has been thought or said” (am probably misquoting him—I do that a lot). I’m one of those autodidacts myself, and I’m persistently fascinated by how little discussion we have about lay (i.e. outside the academy) appreciation for great literature. Without lay readers, nobody would still be reading Plato, Plutarch, Milton, Donne, Dickens, Woolf or any of hundreds of other writers that still have the capability to astonish the inexpert reader. Why do folks still pick up these books to read for fun? How do they still manage to compete with TikTok and Instagram?
When this blog started, discussion of the Great Books was mired under the meta-debate about “Old White Men”. You always had to address the idea, in some way or another, that the GBs upheld hegemonic patriarch-capitalism. Now I don’t write about that so much anymore, but it still comes up—as a woman, non-white, and left-wing person I am a relative rarity amongst GB enthusiasts.
I also write not-infrequently about the contemporary literary and publishing world. I try not to delve into politics, current affairs, or non-literary cultural phenomena. The title of my blog is a reminder to myself to post mostly about what I know and understand (literature) rather than veering into stuff that’s better handled by political scientists, economists, or other experts.
Why don’t you just write regular essays?
On Tuesdays I post critical essays about the Great Books and/or the literary world. On Thursdays I post short tales or parables. I could call them ‘short fiction’ or ‘short stories’, but they’re really nothing like the stories you’d read in literary journals. I’ve been a fiction writer for twenty years, with four novels out from major publishers and three-score short story publications, in some of the top American journals, and I’ve been frustrated for the last few years by the aesthetic constraints imposed by the editors at mainstream presses. As a result, I’ve started experimenting with looser, more free-form, oddly structured stories that I call “tales”.
Who are you?
I am the author of three young adult novels (Enter Title Here, We Are Totally Normal, and Just Happy To Be Here) and one literary novel for adults, The Default World. I also have a nonfiction book coming out May 19, 2026 from Princeton Press, about why the Great Books have a lot to offer to left-wing people and racial, gender, and sexual minorities: it’s tentatively entitled What’s So Great About The Great Books.
And there’s also a short story collection, The Payoff, coming out from Random House sometime in 2027 or 2028.
What’s the best way to contact you?
My email is naomikanakia @ gmail.com.
If for some reason you want to reach my agent, you can contact Alia Hanna Habib at The Gernert Company.
What do I get for going paid?
I paywall my archives—so if you want to read anything older you’ve got to pay. I also write occasional paid posts that’re usually about more controversial topics. My most popular is one on how Ocean Vuong is frequently a bad writer. But between you and me, you mostly get everything from the free version. I just charge for subscriptions because I feel like if you don’t charge for something, folks will think it’s worthless.
Can I get some more info about you? Like…on a demographic and spatial level?
I live in SF. I’m married. I have a daughter. I’m a Millennial. My parents were born in India, and I’m one of that infamous cadre of writers whose mom has a Wikipedia page. I grew up in Washington, D.C. I got an MFA in Creative Writing from the Jons Hopkins University Writing Seminars. I began my career as a sci-fi writer, and I’ve had stories in all the most respected sci-fi journals.
