From the council chamber, the sanctuary, and the field.
From the newsroom to the council chamber, Joshua Kagi writes at the intersection of civic life, faith, leadership, and the long work of building things that matter — in reported essays, a novel in development, and a newsletter read by people who are building something too.
There's no shortage of content. What's scarce is writing with moral weight — the kind that names what's actually happening in a community, a family, a denomination, or a borough council meeting, and does it with enough care that readers lean in instead of scrolling past.
Most writers know one world. Joshua Kagi lives in several at once: elected official and documentary producer, denominational president and Little League dad, faith journalist and civic agitator. That unusual stack of roles isn't incidental — it's the thing that gives his writing its texture. He writes from inside the institutions he's scrutinizing. He knows what boards actually argue about, what pastors are afraid to say, what it costs a family to show up. That proximity changes everything.
One family's unbroken line of resistance — from Heart Mountain to here.
In 1942, a woman named Marie drove through the frozen Wyoming interior to bring food and newspapers to Japanese Americans imprisoned at Heart Mountain. She brought her young son — not because he understood, but because she believed witness was inherited.
A multigenerational historical fiction following one family's moral inheritance across the defining moments of American civil liberty — told with the cinematic precision of a documentary filmmaker who has spent a career finding the frame that tells the truth.
Literary agents and acquisitions editors are invited to reach out directly. A synopsis and sample chapters are available on request.
Editors and publications seeking reported essays, features, and long-form work on the beats below: Joshua is available for assignment. He brings two decades of lived experience — not just reportorial distance — to every pitch.
Three ways to engage — depending on where you are and what you need.
Start with &still we build — the newsletter that holds the full range of what Joshua writes about. No algorithm, no paywall. Just writing sent directly to people who are building something too.
The Distance Between Us Is Only Time is in early development. Agents, publishers, and readers interested in the novel can follow its progress and get access to sample material by reaching out directly.
If you're an editor with an assignment or a publication seeking a byline on faith, civic life, parenting, sports, or mission-driven work — send a pitch brief. Joshua is selective but available for the right assignments.
Most writers observe from a distance. Joshua Kagi writes from inside the rooms where things actually happen — the denomination navigating a crisis of unity, the borough council chamber at 10pm when nobody's watching, the living room where a father is trying to figure out what he's supposed to be.
His journalism career spans newsrooms, documentary film, and communications consulting across nonprofits, faith communities, and civic organizations. He has been a Senior Producer at PBS, a council member in Pottstown, PA, and the elected President of American Baptist Churches USA — one of the most racially and theologically diverse denominations in the country.
He writes the way he produces documentaries: with patience, proximity, and a commitment to finding the frame that tells the whole truth — not just the convenient part of it.
Whether you're an editor with a beat, a publisher with a project, or an agent looking for a voice with roots — the first conversation costs nothing. Let's find out if this is a match.
For book inquiries, sample chapters, or agent/publisher conversations: reach out directly.