Malavika Kannan's 'Unprecedented Times': A Pandemic Novel of Queer Identity and Disillusionment

In Malavika Kannan's debut novel 'Unprecedented Times,' protagonist Rishi, the queer daughter of Tamil immigrants, leaves Stanford during the pandemic and joins friends at a Pennsylvania farm collective. In a Vogue interview, Kannan explains her aim to craft an 'anti-coming-of-age' story, inspired by Zora Neale Hurston and Jade Sharma. She sought to convey the pandemic's warped sense of time and the fracture of generational dreams. The novel deliberately places trauma near the end, reflecting a disillusionment with the lack of social change afterward. Kannan also advocates for socioeconomic analysis in discussions of Gen Z and urges more concern about climate change. The interview was edited and condensed.