Award-winning author and the making of the inaugural novel, Hopeless Kingdom

KGSHAK Akec is set to share the rapid creation of her inaugural novel, Hopeless Kingdom, with the Friends of Inverloch Library on Friday, May 1, a story of migration, family – a novel born on reflection.

In an interview with the Sentinel-Times, Kgshak shared that Hopeless Kingdom was started in March of 2020, and by May of that same year, she had completed the first draft. Kgshak described that travel and the nationwide lockdown helped crystallise long-held memories and questions.

The fiction novel - Kgshak’s largest written piece, draws on her experience as a first-generation migrant. “I created the character Akita to carry my earliest memories and later developed the mother character,” said Kgshak.

“I felt the need to give equivalent weight to the mother-daughter dynamic, because as I was writing, the mother character had a very strong voice. One that deserved a compelling voice in the story.”

In real time, as she became older, Kgshak said she had formed this equal relationship with her own mother, one that prompted questions, questions that Kgshak sought answers to, and Hopeless Kingdom became that voice.

Fact, fiction and creative choice, Kgshak said the initial writing was a detailed record of events written for personal clarity, but she later fictionalised many elements “to preserve a lot of personal information” and to allow creative freedom.

On the title and its meaning, Kgshak said Hopeless Kingdom evokes characters' shared moments of hopelessness and their search for a place to lay down their roots.

Born in Sudan, raised in Egypt before migrating to Australia at the age of six, Kgshak searched for belonging, and she said readers have connected with the different characters: the mother’s raw single parent struggles, the daughters' search for identity and a brother whose storyline confronts addiction.

“People have come to me and expressed that they’ve had family members who struggle with addiction or lived a life in search of belonging”, said Kgshak, noting how powerful it is to see experiences reflected in fiction. “My message through this novel is that we are all connected in so many ways. Our experiences and our stories are what connect us.”

On her path to deciding on whether to share her story, Kgshak said she entered the manuscript in competitions, where Hopeless Kingdom won the Dorothy Hewett Award and was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award.

The Dorothy Hewett Award is a national recognition for unpublished manuscripts and includes publication and editorial collaboration, with Kgshak saying she had creative freedom over the story.

“I have since worked on my second novel and recently sent it off to my agent,” Kgshak said. “I look forward to meeting the people of Inverloch; it’s these events that shape how I see the world.”