Hi, I’m Kaighla…
Kaighla Rises is a Pushcart Prize-nominated writer, poet, and seeker. Her fantasy novel Evryn, The Light was chosen for the 2022 Ampersand Award for Prose. Things That Shatter—her memoir about domestic abuse and survival, which she published under the pen name Kaighla Um Dayo—won the 2019 Daybreak Press Award for Best Memoir. Kaighla has also published two poetry collections—Love, Grieve, Repeat and wellspring. Her work has been included in several magazines and anthologies, including Pulse & Echo Literary Magazine. She was the Featured Poet in the 2022 inaugural issue of Hyssop + Laurel Magazine. Kaighla lives with her family in Central Illinois, where she enjoys hiking, painting, and connecting with other local creatives.
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WIPs
Ksenia, the Shadow
Ksenia, the Shadow is the sequel coming out to Evryn, the Light. Come back for more information about this work in progress as it becomes available!
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Books by Kaighla Rises
Wellspring
Wellspring
wellspring is a poetic journey following one woman’s quest to reconnect with her own internal source of joy, peace, and purpose. As kaighla leads us through her divorce, grief, rebound, and recovery process, she shows readers how to empower themselves to find their own wellsprings of hope and meaning.
Ask the Waves Why
Ask The Waves Why
Caroline Rush has finally gotten her shit together… and she doesn’t depend on anyone—not since she gave birth at 19 and her high school sweetheart died a year later, leaving her to raise her daughter alone in a new, cut-throat city.
Now, at 45, with a successful writing career and the comfort, fame, and relative wealth to go with it, Caroline has finally found peace (or something like it.)
But one phone call on a lazy Saturday morning plunges her back into the deep ocean of sorrow she fought to escape, forcing her to face the ghosts of her past and finally decide, once and for all, if she will make peace with the waves.
Now, at 45, with a successful writing career and the comfort, fame, and relative wealth to go with it, Caroline has finally found peace (or something like it.)
But one phone call on a lazy Saturday morning plunges her back into the deep ocean of sorrow she fought to escape, forcing her to face the ghosts of her past and finally decide, once and for all, if she will make peace with the waves.
Love Grieve Repeat
Love Grieve Repeat
Everyone You Love Will Die.
I know. It’s not a great realization to be slapped in the face with. But it’s true: every love ultimately ends in some sort of grief—either they die or you do, or someone decides to walk away. Not just lovers, but friends and coworkers and cousins and neighbors—all of them will eventually pass out of your life, in one way or another.
Grief is the cost of a love well-lived. And yet, I argue, healthy love is worth every damn tear grief will bring your way.
In late 2021, my mother received a devastating blow: colon cancer, stage IV. Too late for chemo or radiation to do much, my mother refused to accept or even acknowledge that she was dying—which she did, in January of 2022, just four months after her initial diagnosis…
I know. It’s not a great realization to be slapped in the face with. But it’s true: every love ultimately ends in some sort of grief—either they die or you do, or someone decides to walk away. Not just lovers, but friends and coworkers and cousins and neighbors—all of them will eventually pass out of your life, in one way or another.
Grief is the cost of a love well-lived. And yet, I argue, healthy love is worth every damn tear grief will bring your way.
In late 2021, my mother received a devastating blow: colon cancer, stage IV. Too late for chemo or radiation to do much, my mother refused to accept or even acknowledge that she was dying—which she did, in January of 2022, just four months after her initial diagnosis…
Evryn
Evryn, the Light
On the secluded island of Kenozaria, where women hold power, Evryn Korina—the chief’s eldest daughter—is not what her mother hoped she would become. But when a new, formidable enemy threatens her culture and home, Evryn must choose between staying in her mother’s shadow or embracing her latent power. With the help of an unlikely ally and the guidance of her ancestors, Evryn must learn to connect with her intuition and her fellow women to harness her inner strength and save her people.
Lord Lukin Velga, the last male in his line, is disenchanted with his role and skeptical of his uncle’s mission to spread their faith across the world. When he is tasked by the Torch of Branngard with finding and bringing back the chief’s daughter, he discovers there is more to her than meets the eye. Captivated by her courage and integrity, Lukin must decide if he will fulfill his destiny or protect the woman he loves from the schemes of his fellow men, no matter the cost…
Lord Lukin Velga, the last male in his line, is disenchanted with his role and skeptical of his uncle’s mission to spread their faith across the world. When he is tasked by the Torch of Branngard with finding and bringing back the chief’s daughter, he discovers there is more to her than meets the eye. Captivated by her courage and integrity, Lukin must decide if he will fulfill his destiny or protect the woman he loves from the schemes of his fellow men, no matter the cost…
Books by Kaighla Um Dayo
Things that Shatter
Things that Shatter
In 2009, Kaighla—a young, single mother from the Midwest—converted to Islam and later met and married the Egyptian imam of a mosque in Brooklyn.
Unbeknownst to her, he was still married to his first wife—who was raising their six children back home in Egypt—and was about to be deported for marriage fraud.
Two years later, Kaighla and her two young children moved with him to rural Egypt. Thus began a period of intense abuse and neglect that would last for several years. Thousands of miles away from her support system and lacking any resources to escape her abuser, Kaighla struggled to stay alive in a harsh and sometimes unyielding environment.
With a lifetime of trauma already under her belt, Kaighla struggled to manage her increasingly frail mental health, all while giving birth to several children in the span of seven years.
Things That Shatter is a memoir of resilience and the power of the human spirit to endure, come what may. It aims to shed light on abuse and healing within the Muslim community and to help women protect themselves from wolves in Sheikh’s clothing.
Unbeknownst to her, he was still married to his first wife—who was raising their six children back home in Egypt—and was about to be deported for marriage fraud.
Two years later, Kaighla and her two young children moved with him to rural Egypt. Thus began a period of intense abuse and neglect that would last for several years. Thousands of miles away from her support system and lacking any resources to escape her abuser, Kaighla struggled to stay alive in a harsh and sometimes unyielding environment.
With a lifetime of trauma already under her belt, Kaighla struggled to manage her increasingly frail mental health, all while giving birth to several children in the span of seven years.
Things That Shatter is a memoir of resilience and the power of the human spirit to endure, come what may. It aims to shed light on abuse and healing within the Muslim community and to help women protect themselves from wolves in Sheikh’s clothing.
The New Muslim’s Field Guide
The New Muslim’s Field Guide
This is not your average “Welcome to Islam!” book. The New Muslim’s Field Guide offers a fresh approach to guiding Muslim converts, focused on helping them grow as Muslims while maintaining their identity and love for God.
Drawing on their shared decades of experience, Theresa and Kaighla walk the new Muslim through the hills and the valleys they’ll encounter on their journey, helping the newcomer navigate the sometimes slippery cliffs of culture, politics, and interpersonal relationships.
Injected with a healthy dose of humor and candor, The New Muslim’s Field Guide discusses some of the deeper meanings behind belief and ritual, clarifies common sticky issues, and tells stories of triumph and failure on the journey of Islam.
Drawing on their shared decades of experience, Theresa and Kaighla walk the new Muslim through the hills and the valleys they’ll encounter on their journey, helping the newcomer navigate the sometimes slippery cliffs of culture, politics, and interpersonal relationships.
Injected with a healthy dose of humor and candor, The New Muslim’s Field Guide discusses some of the deeper meanings behind belief and ritual, clarifies common sticky issues, and tells stories of triumph and failure on the journey of Islam.
Hallelujah, Dammit
Hallelujah, Dammit
Hallelujah, Dammit, Um Dayo’s third book, is a collection of poetry and prose written during and after a painful separation and divorce. Walking readers through her healing journey, she explores the universal themes of grief, hope, sorrow, love, betrayal, faith, and tenacity, with all the raw, unfiltered emotion readers have come to expect from her.