Akwaeke Emezi


Akwaeke Emezi is an lgbo and Tamil writer and video artist, best known for their debut novel Freshwater.

Personal Life

Growing up in Aba, Nigeria, Emezi and their sister Yagazie used storytelling to escape the riots, dictatorship, and dangerous reality of their childhoods. Emezi began writing short stories when they were five years old. They received their MPA from New York University.
Emezi uses the personal pronouns they/them/theirs.

Freshwater

Freshwater tells the semi-autobiographical story of the protagonist, Ada, who is an ogbanje. Emezi explores their Igbo heritage's spirituality and gender alongside those of Western construction and invites their audience to think critically about this spirit/body binary.
Reception
The New Yorker called Freshwater "a startling début novel"; The Guardian called it "a remarkable debut"; and the LA Times called it "dazzling". Freshwater was longlisted for numerous significant awards. Freshwater was a New York Times Notable Book, was named a Best Book of the Year by the New Yorker and NPR. and was called a New York Times Notable Book. Emezi is also recognized as a 2018 National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" honoree.
In 2019, Freshwater was nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction — the first time a non-binary transgender author has been nominated for the prize. Kate Williams, the chair of the judges, called it a "historic moment". Williams said that the panel did not know Emezi was non-binary when the book was chosen, but she said Emezi was happy to be nominated. Non-binary commentator Vic Parsons wrote that the nomination raised uncomfortable questions, asking: "would a non-binary author who was assigned male at birth have been longlisted? I highly doubt it." After the nomination, it was announced that the Women's Prize Trust was working on new guidelines for transgender, non-binary, and genderfluid authors.

Other Works

Pet, released on September 10, 2019, is about a transgender teenager named Jam living in a world where adults refuse to acknowledge the existence of monsters.
Emezi signed a two-book deal with Riverhead Books. The first, The Death of Vivek Oji, is expected to come out on August 4, 2020, and is available for pre-order.

Awards and Nominations

Won
Nominated