superheroesincolor:Freshwater(2018)An extraordinary debut novel, Freshwater explores the surreal e
superheroesincolor:Freshwater (2018)An extraordinary debut novel, Freshwater explores the surreal experience of having a fractured self. It centers around a young Nigerian woman, Ada, who develops separate selves within her as a result of being born “with one foot on the other side.” Unsettling, heartwrenching, dark, and powerful, Freshwater is a sharp evocation of a rare way of experiencing the world, one that illuminates how we all construct our identities.Ada begins her life in the south of Nigeria as a troubled baby and a source of deep concern to her family. Her parents, Saul and Saachi, successfully prayed her into existence, but as she grows into a volatile and splintered child, it becomes clear that something went terribly awry. When Ada comes of age and moves to America for college, the group of selves within her grows in power and agency. A traumatic assault leads to a crystallization of her alternate selves: Asụghara and Saint Vincent. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these selves―now protective, now hedonistic―move into control, Ada’s life spirals in a dark and dangerous direction.Narrated from the perspective of the various selves within Ada, and based in the author’s realities, Freshwater explores the metaphysics of identity and mental health, plunging the reader into the mystery of being and self. Freshwater dazzles with ferocious energy and serpentine grace, heralding the arrival of a fierce new literary voice.by Akwaeke EmeziGet it now hereAkwaeke Emezi is an Igbo and Tamil writer and video artist based in liminal spaces. They are one of the National Book Foundation’s ‘5 Under 35’ for 2018, selected by Carmen Maria Machado. Currently short-listed for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, their debut autobiographical novel FRESHWATER (Grove Press) was also long-listed for the Carnegie Medal of Excellence and The Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize. It was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and an Indies Introduce Title, receiving rave reviews from the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the New Yorker, and the LA Times, among others. FRESHWATER is currently being translated into six languages.Emezi’s first young adult novel, PET, will be published in 2019 by Make Me a World/Knopf Books for Young Readers. Their second adult novel, THE DEATH OF VIVEK OJI, is forthcoming from Riverhead Books, and their short story ‘Who Is Like God’ won the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa. Emezi was photographed by Annie Leibovitz and profiled in the February 2018 issue of Vogue Magazine (Modern Families With A Cause), and their video art series THE UNBLINDING premiered in February at Gavin Brown’s enterprise in Harlem.Born in Umuahia and raised in Aba, Nigeria, Emezi holds two degrees, including an MPA from New York University. In 2017, they were awarded a Global Arts Fund grant for the video art in their project The Unblinding, and a Sozopol Fellowship for Creative Nonfiction. Emezi’s writing has been published by Dazed Magazine, The Cut, Buzzfeed, Granta Online, Vogue.com, and Commonwealth Writers, among others. Their memoir work was included in The Fader’s ‘Best Culture Writing of 2015’ ('Who Will Claim You?’) and their experimental short UDUDEAGU won the Audience Award for Best Short Experimental at the 2014 BlackStar Film Festival.[Follow SuperheroesInColor faceb / instag / twitter / tumblr / pinterest] -- source link
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