Katya Cengel
Katya Cengel has written for New York Times Magazine and Washington Post among other publications and teaches journalism at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is the author of Foreword Indies 2020 Finalist “From Chernobyl with Love: Reporting from the Ruins of the Soviet Union” (Potomac, 2019); “Exiled: From the Killing Fields of Cambodia to California and Back” (Potomac, 2018); and “Bluegrass Baseball: A Year in the Minor League Life” (Nebraska, 2012). Cengel has been awarded grants from the International Reporting Project, International Women’s Media Foundation and International Center for Journalists. She has reported from Africa, Europe, Asia and Central and North America.
Twitter: @kcengel Instagram: @Katyacengel
What’s the oddest thing a reader has ever asked you?
A reader once asked me to hold their newborn baby for a photo at a book signing. The signing was at a baseball stadium and the book was about minor league baseball, so I wasn’t expecting quite such a young fan. Apparently, the mom was a big baseball enthusiast and thought the book would make a great gift for her newborn. At the same event several 10-year-old boys bought the book. That was another enjoyable surprise because it is an adult book and I hadn’t thought about children being attracted to the story even though it makes sense because it is about following a dream.
Not all books are for all readers… when you start a book and you just don’t like it, how long do you read until you bail?
I keep trying for some time. If I picked it up in the first place, I had a good reason for doing so and I want to stick with it. But if it isn’t grabbing me, I have trouble staying interested so what usually happens is I set it aside and it eventually gets buried under other books until I forget about it. Still, when I come across it later while neatening up I will open it up and try again.
Is there another profession you would like to try?
I have always been fascinated by archaeology, but I have absolutely no patience. The digs seem to take a very long time before they reveal anything. I am lucky because my work in journalism has allowed me to experience many other professions in brief bursts so I don’t feel like I have missed out too much.
Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing? Do you sew? Paint? Draw? Knit? Dance?
I love to ice skate, but I don’t often get the chance. It is a very expensive sport and I rarely seem to be in the right place with the right amount of funding at the right time to do it. I was able to compete for a while when I was working at a newspaper full time and I had a lot of fun, the music and routines were a nice distraction from writing. Recently I took up tap dancing.
What piece of clothing tells the most interesting story about your life?
My soccer jerseys. It isn’t one item, but several. I travel internationally for some of my writing and I try to buy a national soccer jersey wherever I go. Some countries are really into their soccer team and the task is easy. Others, like Mongolia and Cambodia, pretty much thought I was crazy.
