After moving, she lived in Cape Town, South Africa, and pursued a medical career.
[6] Golakai received a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Cape Town in 2005, specializing in cell and molecular biology.
[10] On the strength of the book, in 2012 Zukiswa Wanner in The Guardian rated Golakai as one of the "top five African writers".
She won critical acclaim for her 2016 essay "Fugee",[13] a personal account of the Ebola crisis in Liberia, commissioned for the anthology Safe House: Explorations in Creative Nonfiction, edited by Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, in partnership with Commonwealth Writers and published by Cassava Republic Press.
[18] In April 2014, Golakai was named on the Hay Festival's Africa39 list of 39 of the most promising sub-Saharan African writers aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature,[19] and was included in the subsequent anthology edited by Ellah Allfrey, Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara.