Akwaeke Emezi
-
Nouv.
Au Nigéria, dans la cosmologie igbo, lorsqu'un enfant est dans le ventre de sa mère, il est façonné par des esprits qui déterminent son destin. Mais à la naissance de la petite Ada, les portes entre le monde des humains et celui des esprits se sont temporairement ouvertes, le temps pour ces derniers de s'immiscer dans le corps de la fillette et de s'y trouver bloqués. Un pied dans le monde des vivants, un pied dans le monde des esprits, Ada va ainsi grandir envahie par un cortège de voix qui vont se disputer le contrôle de sa vie, fractionnant son être en d'innombrables personnalités. Mais lorsque Ada quitte son berceau géographique pour faire ses études aux États-Unis, un événement traumatique d'une violence inouïe va donner naissance à un nouvel esprit, beaucoup plus puissant, beaucoup plus dangereux. Ce nouveau «moi» prend possession d'elle et se nourrit de ses désirs, de sa colère et de sa rancoeur. La vie de la jeune fille prend alors une tournure de plus en plus inquiétante, où la mort semble devenir une séduisante échappatoire. Ce premier roman à la force narrative enivrante donne à voir une version profondément originale des troubles de la personnalité. Avec une assurance rare et une énergie dévorante, Eau douce explore les abysses de l'être, pose un regard incisif sur les questions d'identité, de sexualité, de folie et d'acceptation de soi, et sonne l'émergence d'une nouvelle voix littéraire, unique et audacieuse.
-
It''s the opportunity of a lifetime: Feyi is about to be given the chance to escape the City''s blistering heat for a dream island holiday: poolside cocktails, beach sunsets, and elaborate meals. And as the sun goes down on her old life our heroine also might just be ready to open her heart to someone new. The only problem is, she''s falling for the one man she absolutely can''t have.
-
'Completely blew me away.' Daisy Johnson, author of Everything Under 'One of the most dazzling debuts I've ever read.' Taiye Selasi, author of Ghana Must Go ' I'm urging everyone to read it.' Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure Ada has always been unusual. Her parents prayed her into existence, but something must have gone awry. Their troubled child begins to develop separate selves and is prone to fits of anger and grief.When Ada grows up and heads to college in America, a traumatic event crystallises the selves into something more powerful. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind, these 'alters' - now protective, now hedonistic - take control, shifting her life in a dangerous direction.
-
From the critically acclaimed author of Pet and The Death of Vivek Oji , Bitter , a companion novel to Pet , takes a timely and riveting look at the power of youth, protest and art. Bitter is thrilled to have been chosen to attend Eucalyptus, a special school where she can focus on her painting surrounded by other creative teens. But outside this haven, the streets are filled with protests against the deep injustices that grip the town of Lucille. Bitter''s instinct is to stay safe within the walls of Eucalyptus . . . but her friends aren''t willing to settle for a world that the adults say is "just the way things are." Pulled between old friendships, her creative passion, and a new a romance, Bitter isn''t sure where she belongs - in the art studio or in the streets. And if she does find a way to help the revolution while being true to who she is, she must also ask: at what cost?
-
Pet is here to hunt a monster. Are you brave enough to look? There are no more monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. With doting parents and a best friend named Redemption, Jam has grown up with this lesson all her life. But when she meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colours and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question-How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist? In their riveting and timely young adult debut, acclaimed novelist Akwaeke Emezi asks difficult questions about what choices a young person can make when the adults around them are in denial.
-
''Unlike anything I''ve read . . . Remarkable.'' Roxane Gay ''An audacious sojourn through the terror and beauty of refusing to explain yourself. '' New York Times In letters addressed to their friends, to members of their family - both biological and chosen - and to fellow storytellers, Akwaeke describes the shape of a life lived in overlapping realities. Through heartbreak, chronic pain, intimacy with death, becoming a beast, this is embodiment as a nonhuman: outside the boundaries imposed by expectations and legibility. This book is an account of the grueling work of realignment and remaking necessary to carve out a future for oneself. The result is a Black spirit memoir: a powerful, raw unfolding of identity.
-
SHORTLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE ''Astonishing.'' Stylist ''Electrifying.'' O: The Oprah Magazine ''Brilliant and heartbreaking.'' Marie Claire ''Propulsive and resonant.'' Esquire They burned down the market on the day Vivek Oji died. One afternoon, a mother opens her front door to find the length of her son''s body stretched out on the veranda, swaddled in akwete material, his head on her welcome mat. The Death of Vivek Oji transports us to the day of Vivek''s birth, the day his grandmother Ahunna died. It is the story of an over protective mother and a distant father, and the heart-wrenching tale of one family''s struggle to understand their child, just as Vivek learns to recognize himself. Teeming with unforgettable characters whose lives have been shaped by Vivek''s gentle and enigmatic spirit, it shares with us a Nigerian childhood that challenges expectations. This novel, and its celebration of the innocence and optimism of youth, will touch all those who embrace it. What readers are saying: ''The book is so beautifully written and I''ve never read anything like it ever before .'' ''This is a gorgeously written story of identity, sexuality, love, grief, friendship, and the need to live the life you want, even in a country where doing so might be deadly . . . This was emotional, beautiful, and so poignant, and their storytelling took my breath away .'' ''This book is both so joyful and so devastating .'' ''The way Emezi made me care so deeply about these characters was just incredible, so that when the whole truth of Vivek''s death was revealed I felt so personally affected by it. This book is about so many things all at once . . . The writing is so simple yet beautifully emotive . And I cried.'' ''FIVE HUGE STARS . . . The Death of Vivek Oji is a poignant and tantalizing novel that wraps you up in its web of characters and feeds on you with carnivorous force , all while softening your heart and mind to a world outside of the normal social constraints we have been conditioned to.'' (Goodreads reader reviews)
-
Nouv.
''A triumph ... A wholly original and creative mind'' NEW YORK TIMES ''Akwaeke Emezi continues to astound with their prolific multi-genre, multidisciplinary work'' SHONDALAND ________________________ A fiercely contemporary collection which renegotiates the contract between poet and reader in the light of this moment in human history, from the bestselling author of The Death of Vivek Oji Content Warning: Everything concerns itself with the fugitive nature of being in the world especially, but not exclusively, within blackness. The poems reshape possibilities for poetry by paying close attention to the author''s rhythm of thought, making a series of durable anthems from the noise of the contemporary moment.
In this bold debut poetry collection, Akwaeke Emezi - award-winning author of Freshwater, PET, The Death of Vivek Oji and Dear Senthuran - imagines a new depth of belonging. Crafted of both divine and earthly materials, these poems travel from home to homesickness, tracing desire to surrender and abuse to survival, while mapping out a chosen family that includes the son of god, mary auntie, and magdalene with the chestnut eyes.
Written from a spiritfirst perspective and celebrating the essence of self that is impossible to drown, kill, or reduce, Content Warning: Everything distills the radiant power and epic grief of a mischievous and wanting young deity, embodied.> -
One of Stylist ''s Best Memoirs for Summer 2021 ''Unlike anything I''ve read . . . Remarkable.'' Roxane Gay ''A thing of great beauty.'' Paris Review In letters addressed to their friends, to members of their family - both biological and chosen - and to fellow storytellers, Akwaeke describes the shape of a life lived in overlapping realities. Through heartbreak, chronic pain, intimacy with death, becoming a beast, this is embodiment as a nonhuman: outside the boundaries imposed by expectations and legibility. This book is an account of the grueling work of realignment and remaking necessary to carve out a future for oneself. The result is a Black spirit memoir: a powerful, raw unfolding of identity. ''An audacious sojourn through the terror and beauty of refusing to explain yourself. '' New York Times
