Akwaeke Emezi
Akwaeke Emezi is an lgbo and Tamil writer and video artist, best known for their debut novel Freshwater, a semi-autobiographical story starring a trans protagonist named Ada who is an ogbanje or "spirit child".[4] Their second book, 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. A third book, titled The Death of Vivek Oji, is due out in 2020.[2]
| Date of birth | 1987 |
|---|---|
| Place of birth | Umuahia, Nigeria |
| Nationality | Nigerian |
| Pronouns | they/them[1][2] |
| Gender identity | nonbinary[3] |
| Occupation | writer |
Emezi wrote Freshwater while working towards their Master's of Fine Arts degree, and it was published in 2018.[5] In 2019, it was nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction; this was the first time a trans or nonbinary author had been nominated for the prize.[6] The judges were not aware of Emezi being nonbinary when Freshwater was selected (the book jacket referred to the author with "she/her"), but Emezi was reportedly happy to be among the selected.[7]
References
- ↑ https://www.instagram.com/azemezi/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 de León, Concepción (9 September 2019). "'This Is a Possibility': Akwaeke Emezi Writes a Trans Story Where Nobody Gets Hurt". New York Times. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ↑ Emezi, Akwaeke (January 2018). "Transition". The Cut. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ↑ Akbar, Arifa (20 October 2018). "Akwaeke Emezi: 'I'd read everything – even the cereal box'". the Guardian. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ↑ Bausells, Marta (21 February 2018). "The Nonbinary Author Centering African Narratives Erased by Colonialism". Vice. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ↑ Parsons, Vic (6 March 2019). "Opinion: Be careful before celebrating the recognition of Akwaeke Emezi". The Independent. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ↑ Wood, Heloise (2 April 2019). "Women's Prize to formulate new policy around gender criteria". TheBookseller.com. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
Professor Kate Williams, chair of judges, previously told the Guardian that the judges were not aware of Emezi’s gender identity when they selected Freshwater, but they did check that Emezi was happy to be longlisted before the announcement.
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