Nina McConigley is the author of “How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder” and “Cowboys and East Indians,” which was the winner of the PEN Open Book Award and High Plains Book Award. She was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Creative Writing Fellowship. She teaches at Colorado State University.
SunLit: Tell us this book’s backstory – what’s it about and what inspired you to write it?
Nina McConigley: It’s the portrait of an immigrant family in the American West. This postfrontier novel examines the intersection of immigration, family, and place. Set in Wyoming and India, it chronicles two Indian families who live within an extended family in rural Wyoming.
Anchored in a year — 1986, but dipping into post-Independence India — the novel accounts for the year in which a murder occurs within the two families. Agatha Krishna and Georgie Ayyar (named after colonial British women writers) commit a crime that remains undiscovered. The novel is told in an experimental style — in first and second person.
UNDERWRITTEN BY
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I wanted to draw upon my own growing up in Wyoming in the 1980s, and my own experience as a biracial child in the West.
SunLit: Place the excerpt you selected in context. How does it fit into the book as a whole and why did you select it?
McConigley: It’s the beginning of the novel. It sets up the two families and explains who the girls seem to blame for this trauma in their family. My book is not a whodunit, but reading is about unpacking the why behind their murder. I selected it as it sets the tone and lets the reader see into the minds of these teenage girls.
SunLit: What influences and/or experiences informed the project before you sat down to write?
McConigley: A lot of poetry inspired the book. The poets Bhanu Kapil and Athena Farrokhzad. And small experimental books like “Assembly,” “Grief is a Thing of Feathers,” “Department of Speculation,” and “Tides.” Also, the experience of adapting my first book, “Cowboys and East Indians,” for the stage. It was commissioned by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and premiered worldwide in January 2026 at the Denver Center. Theater was a new medium, and writing the play was a joy.
SunLit: What did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and/or the subject matter?
“How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder”
Where to find it:
- Prospector: Search the combined catalogs of 23 Colorado libraries
- Libby: E-books and audio books
- NewPages Guide: List of Colorado independent bookstores
- Bookshop.org: Searchable database of bookstores nationwide
SunLit present new excerpts from some of the best Colorado authors that not only spin engaging narratives but also illuminate who we are as a community. Read more.
McConigley: Well, I learned to write a novel! And that the challenges of the novel are so different from those of a short story. Short stories feel like a sprint, and the novel is a marathon. I also learned a lot about time and how to tell a retrospective story. I also really enjoyed playing with form and readers’ expectations.
SunLit: What were the biggest challenges you faced in writing this book?
McConigley: My first book was a short story collection, and so learning to write a novel was a completely different artistic experience. I made many mistakes and missteps. I had so many drafts and started over many times.
SunLit: What do you want readers to take from this book?
McConigley: The American West is more diverse than people think. And that the experience of being a rural immigrant is very singular. Also, this is a book about sisterhood, the power of family, and resilience.
SunLit: Tell us about your next project.
McConigley: I am starting another novel. Still set in the American West, but a departure from my earlier work. I also am returning to playwriting. And working on a new idea that involves politics and fly fishing.
A few more quick items
Currently on your nightstand for recreational reading: “Appraisals” by Claire Boyles. She is a phenomenal Colorado writer, and her new book is scheduled for publication in August – I am lucky to have an early copy.
First book you remember really making an impression on you as a kid: “Little House on the Prairie” by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Best writing advice you’ve ever received: Read every day.
Favorite fictional literary character: Anne of Green Gables
Literary guilty pleasure (title or genre): Mystery thrillers!
Digital, print or audio – favorite medium to consume literature: Print. I am old school.
One book you’ve read multiple times: ”The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy
Other than writing utensils, one thing you must have within reach when you write: My dog Lincoln
Best antidote for writer’s block: Read
Most valuable beta reader: My mom