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79. Meet strangeness with kindness - Kestral Gaian on the role of representation, community and politics in fiction
Description
"It's really about what happens when kindness is the first response to strangeness." — Kestral Gaian
What does it take to stay human in a world that often forgets what that means? This episode explores storytelling as an act of resistance: why humans need fiction, why representation matters, and how meeting difference with curiosity rather than judgement can ease the loneliness of modern life.
Our guest is Kestral Gaian, an award-winning writer of fiction, theatre and poetry, whose debut young adult novel "The Boy From Elsewhere" is out now.
In this conversation we cover:
- The origins of "The Boy From Elsewhere", born from a 26-hour charity writing livestream, and what tiredness taught Kestral about creativity and craft
- Why storytelling is fundamental to being human, and how representation shapes what young readers believe is possible
- Whether all art is political, the recent publishing pushback against LGBTQ+ fiction, and meeting strangeness with kindness
Links:
- The Boy From Elsewhere: https://reconnectingrainbows.co.uk/book/tbfe/
- Kestral Gaian's website: https://kestr.al
- Support Humanism Now: https://ko-fi.com/humanismnowpod
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Music: Blossom by Light Prism
Podcast transcripts are AI-generated and may contain errors or omissions. They are provided to make our content more accessible, but should not be considered a fully accurate record of the conversation.