Akwaeke Emezi: Flatbush's Spirit of Fearless Fiction
Updated: Oct 7
A note from our founder
Our fifteenth tribute in this new chapter goes to a writer who refuses to stay inside any single genre, or any single self. Akwaeke Emezi splits their time between New Orleans and Flatbush, Brooklyn, and in just a few years they've produced one of the most versatile bodies of work in contemporary letters.
From Umuahia to Syracuse
Akwaeke Emezi was born on June 6, 1987, in Umuahia, Nigeria, and raised in Aba, Nigeria, alongside their sister, the artist Yagazie Emezi. They moved to the United States for higher education, earning a BS in International Business from Syracuse University, an MPA from New York University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse.
Freshwater and the Ogbanje
Emezi burst onto the international literary scene with their stunning 2018 autobiographical debut novel, Freshwater, which introduced readers to a narrative voice rooted in Igbo spiritual realities, specifically the concept of an ogbanje, a trickster spirit born into a human body.
Staggering Versatility
Since that debut, Emezi has become known for remarkable versatility and speed, moving fluidly between literary fiction, young adult fantasy, contemporary romance, poetry, and memoir. Their work returns again and again to gender fluidity, mental health, spiritual multiplicity, Black queer love, and bodily liberation.
Splitting Time With Flatbush
Emezi was named a National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" honoree, was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award, and became the first nonbinary author nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction. They split their time between New Orleans and Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Bibliography
Fiction (Adult & Literary)
Freshwater (2018) — Their critically acclaimed debut, charting the fractured, polyphonic inner life of a young Nigerian woman named Ada who is inhabited by volatile Igbo spirits.
The Death of Vivek Oji (2020) — A New York Times-bestselling, heartbreaking mystery exploring gender identity, family, and freedom in modern Nigeria, centered on the short life of a protective young man.
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty (2022) — A vibrant, emotionally intense contemporary romance following a young Brooklyn artist dealing with intense grief who finds a second chance at passionate love during a Caribbean vacation.
Speculative & Young Adult Fiction
Pet (2019) — A brilliant, National Book Award-finalist YA fantasy set in a seemingly utopic world where a trans girl named Jam accidentally summons a creature out of a painting to hunt a monster everyone denies exists.
Bitter (2022) — The prequel to Pet, exploring the nuances of activism, art, and revolution through a group of young people fighting systemic injustice in a deeply fractured city.
Poetry & Memoirs
Content Warning: Everything (2022) — A fearless, striking debut poetry collection mapping out survival, sex, home, and the reclamation of the divine body.
Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir (2021) — A profound, raw memoir written in the form of letters to friends, lovers, and mentors, detailing Emezi's relationship to their own body, spirit, success, and surgeries.
READ EMEZI
Start with Freshwater for the novel that announced their arrival, or You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty if you want to meet a Brooklyn artist navigating grief and love on the page. Either way, you're reading a writer who treats genre as a suggestion, not a boundary. Get the book.
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