It would be hard for anyone to finish Dear Senthuran without a change—a change in perspective, understanding, knowledge. Knowing your identity is one thing, but living it is another. Emezi does both.
Reviews
Cassava Republic Press collects the stories of Nigeria’s queer women
A rich resource that allows Nigeria’s queer women to speak their truths as honestly, as openly, and as safely as they can.
My Darling from the Lions by Rachel Long: A Critical Summary
My Darling from the Lions is a remarkable debut collection with plenty to say and the ability to say it in a unique, witty, and fresh manner.
To love is to see, and to be loved is to be seen: Love in Colour
Love in Colour challenges you to be loved loudly and unashamedly. Bolu Babalola wants readers to know that to love is to see, and to be loved is to be seen.
In Every Mirror She’s Black is the perfect read
Solitude is the real story of In Every Mirror She’s Black, a unique distillation of commercial and literary fiction that ultimately hits like a tragedy.
What it means to travel while black in this disoriented world
An insightful read for the average traveller who wants a broader perspective on what it’s like to travel in a world that privileges some but restricts many others from moving around.
Shadow Forward: A Review of My Monticello
Who and what are we the product of, and what is the future of this current birthing? I want us to exercise patience as we wait for the arrival of answers.
This book lays bare the internal woes of existing as a Black woman
This book reminds Black women that we are not superheroes, thus we should not treat ourselves or allow others to treat us as such.
Grown is a map for the next generation
You may laugh, you may tear up a little, and you just might remember lessons from your younger self that were long forgotten.
Dear Black Girl gives Black girls encouragement at the time they need it the most
Have you ever read a book and knew that it was going to be an experience you would remember forever? Dear Black Girl: Letters from Your Sisters on Stepping Into Your Power was just that for me.
Home is Not a Country: A novel-in-verse about identity, belonging, and the true meaning of home
Home is Not a Country is told through the eyes of Nima, a Muslim American girl who finds herself longing to be someone else.
Tami Charles’ Muted explores the music industry’s dark side
A fast-paced coming-of-age story about music, the loss of innocence, and the dangers lurking in the shadows of the entertainment industry.
The first African-language title longlisted for the Booker
A modern take on the origin story of Kenya’s Gĩkũyũ people, The Perfect Nine is one of those rare books about history that has, itself, made history.
Nadifa Mohamed’s The Fortune Men centres humanity in the midst of tragedy and injustice
The Fortune Men is a historical fiction set in 1950s Cardiff that explores the real and distressing story of Mahmood Mattan, the last man to be hanged in Wales.
Accra Noir: Crime in a city of stories, legends, and allegories
Edited by Nana-Ama Danquah, Accra Noir's writers spin a complex and fantastical web of love, intrigue, drama, and crime.
A chilling thriller about gentrification
When No One Is Watching makes it clear that there are heavy physical and emotional tolls to be paid for choosing to actively participate in a history and present of injustice.
A gritty collection set in the shadow of Addis Ababa
The stories within Addis Ababa Noir will shock, scar, and haunt you. This is a place where myth comes to life and shadow walks on its own.
Sankofa comes at the right time
Following Welcome to Lagos, Sankofa marks a departure from Lagosian life and tells the story of a mixed-race British woman's search for her long-lost West African father.
Black Moses is a damning portrait of Congo-Brazzaville
Longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize, this is a cynical coming-of-age story that zeroes in on corruption in 70s and 80s Congo-Brazzaville.
Bernardine Evaristo cuts her teeth on a fun verse novel
The Emperor’s Babe is an irreverent and salacious romp that merges the traditional and the contemporaneous in a startlingly unique way.
This debut is a breathtaking love letter to diaspora
Bad Love has a somewhat misleading title. Though it is about how we hurt and are hurt in love, it is ultimately about the resilience of love across space and time.
The perfect blend of the personal and the political
Black Boy Out of Time is an eloquent and enlightening testament to the ways in which Black authors recraft genre categories that are not truly interested in telling our stories.
A pioneering travelogue about Black Europe
Johny Pitts leads the way in spotlighting the flavour and entangled histories of Europe's Black communities through what may be one of the most comprehensive and transnational studies on the subject to date.
Parsing Freedom: A Review of Kaitlyn Greenidge’s Libertie
Set in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn, this is a book for the sisters who are tired of being strong, for the sisters who have no interest in conditional humanity.
“A Pride and Prejudice Remix” that packs a punch
Pride is a deeply representative retelling that foregrounds Black people’s right to exist in a canon that has always pretended they do not.
Open Water: An ethereal meditation on Black love and art
People like to say that love sees no colour, that love is blind. True as that may be, it is also true that love is about seeing.