Derek Owusu


Derek Owusu is a British writer and podcaster. He edited and contributed to the book Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space, and released his debut novel, That Reminds Me, in November 2019

Life and work

Owusu, of Ghanaian heritage, was raised in foster care by a white family in a village in Suffolk until he was eight years old. In 1997 he moved from Suffolk to North London to live with his biological parents.
He is the former co-host of the literature podcast Mostly Lit.
Owusu edited the book Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space, an anthology of writing by 20 Black British men. He has said that the idea was given to him by fellow writer Yomi Adegoke, who with Elizabeth Uviebinené had compiled the book called Slay In Your Lane and suggested that something similar from a male perspective would be a good idea. It includes essays by JJ Bola, Suli Breaks, Alex Wheatle, Courttia Newland and others that are, as Alex Mistlin wrote in Vice, "addressing the conflicts and complexities of being a black man in Britain today". According to Mistlin, Safe is "about the multi-faceted nature of the black experience, how blackness intertwines with society, masculinity and sexuality to form a coherent identity that is at once universal and unique." Owusu contributes an essay about his experience of foster care.
Owusu began work on his debut novel after suffering a mental break down and having to spend time in a mental health facility. That Reminds Me, a coming of age story about a young Ghanaian called "K", was published in 2019, the first novel from Stormzy's imprint #Merky Books, and was awarded the 2020 Desmond Elliott Prize. According to Metro, "there's nothing indulgent about this quietly observed account of a black man Owusu gives the name of K, who is struggling to make sense of a chaotic upbringing and of his place in a world not designed for people like him with a hidden mental health problem." Kate Kellaway, poetry critic for The Observer, picking That Reminds Me as her poetry book of the month for November, called it "brave and moving", also describing it as "semi-autobiographical", as both the protagonist and Owusu himself live with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. It was described by The Herald as a "virtuosic debut by a raw new talent".

Publications

Fiction