Andrea Gunraj: Writing about people on the periphery and telling the undertold

Andrea Gunraj is an essayist and author of The Lost Sister (Vagrant Press, 2010) and  The Sudden Disappearance of Seetha (Knopf Canada, 2019). She lives in Toronto and loves to write about underseen stories and connections.

Author Andrea Gunraj © Kiran Geer.

Her latest non-fiction work is Go-Between Girl (McClelland & Stewart, 2026), about the under-told legacy of indentured servitude runs through the blood of countless descendants in the diaspora. In this deeply felt collection of essays, Andrea explores the impact of her family’s history on her sense of self. She is a member of The Writers’ Union of Canada. In this interview Andrea discusses writing about people on the periphery and telling the undertold, her softspot for post-colonial literature, and why she thinks she edits more than she writes.

Writing about people on the periphery and telling the undertold

OCW: Can you trace any common themes across your writing?

AG: I’m drawn to write about people who don’t often show up in mainstream publications and about experiences that don’t often get put on paper. I do it because I think it has a way of broadening our understandings of who we are. By telling the undertold, it tends to reveal hidden relationships and shows that we’re much more interconnected and alike than we might think we are. This tendency appears in just about everything I write and it became a big theme in Go-Between Girl.

Go-Between Girl, by Andrea Gunraj

OCW: Which authors and/or types of books do you like to read?

AG: I have a soft spot for post-colonial fiction of any kind, especially books written by women. There was a time when I made reading only these books a rule. But it stopped me from discovering books I ended up loving so I don’t believe in rules about what books I can love, and now I make a point of reading things that “aren’t really for me” or “aren’t my cup of tea”. This changed my life in radical ways. I recommend it.

Process, plotting, and the art of editing

OCW: Are you a plotter or a pantser? (For writers or short stories and novels).

AG: I used to pants. I honestly think pantsing made for the most enjoyable fiction writing process. But now I force myself to plot because I think it’s somehow more time-saving and less painful for me, in the end. I’m not sure this is true, but it feels like it should be true. I would like to test and possibly debunk myself on this...

Cultivating discernment: Advice for writers

OCW: What advice/guidance would you give to writers?

AG: Don’t worry too much about those who don’t relate to or like your work that much. It’s their right to do what they want and like what they like, and art is, deep down, utterly subjective. But if they share that they personally didn’t really get into your work, don’t let it discourage you from doing what you do, as you do it. It’s okay for tastes and styles to differ.

Also, not all feedback is created equal. I think it’s important to listen openly to everyone who is willing to share feedback with you. But not everyone’s suggestions, opinions, or advice is going to be of productive use to you as you keep writing, and not everyone is equally knowledgeable or wise about the art and craft of writing and the esoteric business of publishing. I listen most closely and carefully to writers, readers, and industry professionals I admire and carry a track record I appreciate and would like to emulate. I think discernment is key to making sure you benefit from the best feedback and guard yourself against natural feelings of discouragement.

OCW: Do you edit as you write, or write and edit later?

AG: I think I edit more than I write. I think my writing is just a series of edits on top of edits, interspersed with additional edits. I don’t know how to write. I know how to edit. I’ve come to see the line between writing and editing as permeable. So permeable I think it could be meaningless. I wonder if writing, in the end, might simply be an elaborate myth.