A PhD Research Scholar in the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) Shillong, hailing from Chakhesang Community, born and brought up in Phek, and presently residing in the state of Meghalaya, Shillong is one brilliant writer who has written two volumes of short yet certainly amusing stories: Avila’s Lover and other stories (2018) and Fathers and Daughters (2021).

Beginning of the Journey:

“Immediately after MA, back in 2014, I wrote to a publishing house inquiring about vacant positions. I had already written some stories by that time and I attached a couple of them with my letter hoping that it would make my resume more attractive. As luck would have it, it turned out that the publishing house had no openings then, and they could not take me in. To my surprise, however, the publisher soon contacted me to tell me that they liked the stories I submitted as part of my resume, and that they were interested in publishing one of them in an anthology that they were then working to bring out. I grabbed the opportunity without a second thought! That was how my story, “A Pair of Gulaams” featured in Penthrill’s “Raconteurs from the Hills (2014), and introduced me into the world of being a published storyteller/writer.”

About the books:

In his first volume, Avila’s Lover and other stories, the eight stories in the book represent contemporary life in the towns and villages of present day Nagaland through a voice that is newly emerging in Naga fiction – The Naga male voice. These stories are gritty tales that effectively capture the Naga psyche brilliantly. The situations are recognizable and the characters are people who the reader is likely to meet on an everyday basis, be it on the bus to town, or in the village square, or at a hangout where young men whittle their days away playing cards.

Easterine Kire, in her editorial note of this collection writes: “despite the sense of familiarity, Keyho delivers the telling with the aplomb of a seasoned storyteller, bringing his own magic to each telling”.

While Fathers and Daughters (2021), according to Veio Pou, “is an extension of Avila’s Lover and Other Stories, but with a difference – the maturity of the storyteller.” There are ten stories in this collection- some stories are contemporaneous; others set in the late 1800s to the early 1900s and even earlier than that- and they largely explore human relations and mirrors the Naga society which is negotiating changes at various levels.

Interests and Hobbies:

“I now spend most of my time reading for and writing my PhD thesis. When I am not doing any of those two, I do try to make time to read books recommended by friends. There is also more football and badminton in my life now!”

Impact of the book on readers: (few instances)

“A friend’s father had apparently read my book, ‘Fathers and Daughters’, and he liked it so much that he had been recommending it to all his friends (‘everybody’ was the word the friend used!) That bit of news was heartwarming, because the father is from the older generation. It felt good to have had the affirmation that you are getting the writing across, and getting connected, to readers of all ages.”

Keyho’s books are available in:

• Pages, The Common Room and Crossword, in Kohima
• Patkai books in Dimapur 
• And online at: ilandlo.com