An Interview with Malaikah-Mai Lukonyomoi
Malaikah is a writer whose work centres on community, connection, and relatability. Her writing reflects lived experience, the frustrations of healing, and a raw outlook on life shaped by the desire to move forward. Her debut memoir, Becoming Undone, explores resistance, the refusal to stay broken, and resilience through a nonlinear, intimate reflection across time.
Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?
I’ve loved stories for as long as I can remember; I could recite them before the sentence was even read aloud. Imagination made anything possible, and I first found my spark for writing when I began to daydream with intention, creating characters who confronted the fears and ideas I wasn’t allowed to voice, or who were praised for speaking truths I had been penalised for sharing. They lived out what I couldn’t. Writing became a breath of air when life felt crowded, when my own words felt imprisoned.
English literature classes nurtured this love, giving me the freedom to explore sensory and imaginative experiences through literary devices. A single phrase, such as a chalk screeching across a blackboard, could evoke a multitude of emotions; where one person might find the sound irritating, another might find comfort in the memories stirred by that sensory detail. I realised then that writing could craft worlds where people, despite coming from entirely different places in their understanding and imagination, could still find a way to understand each other through nothing more than carefully chosen words.
So, I would say books gave me the keys to doors I didn’t know existed, and writing became the hand I used to turn them.
Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?
Funnily enough, the book’s original title was Get Ready With Me to Become a Doctor. It was playful, fresh, and a nod to all of the GRWM YouTube videos I grew up watching. It gave me and others I shared it with a good laugh, but it was misleading. Yes, the book touches on healing and hospitals, but the focus isn’t about becoming a doctor.
After a few rewrites and play on words, I tried another title, The Journey of a Doctor: The Undoing, using ‘doctor’ as a metaphor. The idea was that once you heal from an area of life that once wounded you, you become like a PhD student of that subject: you’ve studied it, mastered it, and earned your degree in resilience. The ‘doctor’ reference hinted at the medical aspects of the story but also symbolised becoming the master of your own healing.
The breakthrough came when I was looking at a curated list of similar titles, and someone remarked, “You’re being vulnerable; it’s like you’re becoming undone.” It clicked. Becoming Undone perfectly captured the vulnerability, growth, and personal journey at the heart of the book. From there, the series title, The M Journals, was born, replacing the ‘doctor’ metaphor with my own name, while keeping the playfulness and honesty intact.
If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?
I love this question! While I don’t have specific songs, the book’s soundtrack would probably be a mix of nineties sitcom theme tunes, complete with audience claps, boos, and soft ‘awws’ in the background. It’s a comforting blend of R&B, pop, and a few classical pieces, especially piano.
Some of the poetry in the book was inspired by the songs I listened to while writing, each one echoing the mood of the surrounding chapters. My hope is that, as readers, you’ll hear your own soundtrack in the story or notice which songs and pieces each chapter brings to mind.
What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?
That to be whole again, you must first have been broken, and that’s okay.
What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?
What made publishing this book truly meaningful was seeing my story told exactly as I intended, with honesty, nuance, and strength. It doesn’t linger in a victim mindset or dwell on setbacks. Instead, it honours the full spectrum of emotions while reminding readers, and myself, that moving forward is a choice we make again and again.
What creative projects are you currently working on?
We’re currently working on turning the book into a workshop for all ages. It will explore experiences from a younger sibling/child’s perspective, an adult/parental perspective, and an older sibling/male perspective, using the book’s simple language to create space for deeper, more expansive conversations about the nitty-gritty truths we all live but often hide.
The workshop will take a creative approach, drawing on interests such as music and athletics and pairing them with our life experiences to make the sessions more digestible, unique, and interactive, while also providing a safe space for participants to navigate their own rough patches.
The main aim is for this book to become more than words on a page, an outlet where creativity and self-expression come alive.
You can follow the journey on my Instagram: mysterio_mm, where I’m still building the foundations and shaping a creative direction that ties authorship, lifestyle, and business together in a cohesive way.
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