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Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

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Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Adjei-Brenyah in 2019
Adjei-Brenyah in 2019
Bornc. 1991 (age 32–33)[1][2]
The Bronx, New York City, United States
LanguageEnglish
Alma materUniversity at Albany, SUNY, Syracuse University
GenreSpeculative fiction
Notable works

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is an American speculative fiction author who wrote the short-story collection Friday Black (2018) and his debut novel Chain-Gang All-Stars (2023). He was named one of "5 under 35 Authors" by the National Book Foundation in 2018 and won the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award in 2019.[3] Chain-Gang All-Stars was shortlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction and The New York Times named it one of the ten best books of 2023.[4]

Early life and education

Adjei-Brenyah was born in Queens, New York City, but grew up in Spring Valley, New York. Both of his parents are from Ghana.[5] His father was a defense attorney and his mother was a kindergarten teacher.[1] Adjei-Brenyah started writing from a young age and wrote for his high school's literature magazine.[2]

Adjei-Brenyah went to the University at Albany, SUNY, for his undergraduate degree, where he learned from Lynne Tillman.[2][5] He attended the graduate writing program at Syracuse University with the goal to study with George Saunders in the creative writing program. Saunders later became his thesis adviser and mentor.[1] Adjei-Brenyah went on to teach in the same program.[5]

After college, Adjei-Brenyah became interested in prison abolition and worked at the Rockland Coalition to End the New Jim Crow.[2]

Writing career

Adjei-Brenyah's published works are set in near-future dystopias. They often explore the topics of exploitation, capitalism, and the societal acceptance of violence.[1] His non-fiction writing includes a foreword to How a Game Lives, a collection of critical essays by Jacob Geller.[6][7]

Friday Black

Main article: Friday Black

Adjei-Brenyah's debut book is a collection of 12 satirical short stories exploring many topics, including racism in modern-day America, consumerism, school shootings, and generational violence.[5] Vulture described the book as "an irreverent, genre-bending approach to ripped-from-the-headlines subject matter".[2]

Chain-Gang All-Stars

Main article: Chain-Gang All-Stars

Adjei-Brenyah's first novel is set in a dystopian America where imprisoned people have the choice to leave prison by joining a gladiatorial system called the "CAPE" or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment program where they take part in televised duels to the death as part of alliances called Chain Gangs. If they manage to survive three years of battles, then they are freed.[8][9] The book has a large cast and is written from the perspective of multiple people participating in the program, as well as activists fighting against it, fans, and the people running it.[8]

The book is a fictional novel but features many footnotes citing current laws and factual statistics about the incarceration system in the United States.[2][10]

Chain-Gang All-Stars started as a short story for inclusion in Friday Black but became too long.[2] Adjei-Brenyah has said that he developed it into a novel because he felt he needed to spend more time exploring the main character, Loretta Thurwar.[9]

Chain-Gang All-Stars was shortlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction.[11][12][13][14][15] Kirkus Reviews chose the novel as one of the best books of 2023.[16] The New York Times named it one of the 10 best books of 2023.[17]

Awards and nominations

Awards for Adjei-Brenyah's writing
Year Work Award Result Ref.
2018 Friday Black National Book Foundation: 5 Under 35 Won [18]
John Leonard Prize for Best First Book Finalist [19]
2019 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award Won [20][21]
Aspen Words Literary Prize Shortlist [22]
Dylan Thomas Prize Shortlist [23]
2020 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing Won [24]
2023 Chain-Gang All-Stars Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize Shortlist [25]
National Book Award for Fiction Shortlist [26]
Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction Nominated [27]
Goodreads Choice Award for Debut Novel Nominated [28]
2024 Aspen Words Literary Prize Finalist [29]

Publications

  • — (2018). Friday Black. Mariner/HarperCollins. ISBN 978-1-328-91124-7.
  • — (2023). Chain Gang All Stars. Pantheon/Knopf/Random House/PRH. ISBN 978-0-593-31734-1.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Borrelli, Christopher (May 24, 2023). "'Chain-Gang' author Adjei-Brenyah on writing about violence". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Rao, Mallika (April 25, 2023). "Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Is Asking the Hard Questions". Vulture. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  3. ^ "On protecting the magic of your creative work". thecreativeindependent.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2023. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  4. ^ The New York Times Books Staff (November 28, 2023). "The 10 Best Books of 2023". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 28, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d Alter, Alexandra (October 19, 2018). "'Friday Black' Uses Fantasy and Blistering Satire to Skewer Racism and Consumer Culture". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  6. ^ King, Andrew. "After Jacob Geller's Book, More YouTube Creators Should Release Their Work In Physical Form", The Gamer, 15 March 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024
  7. ^ How a Game Lives, Lost in Cult. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  8. ^ a b Bellot, Gabrielle (May 23, 2023). "Chain-Gang All-Stars Is Gladiator Meets the American Prison System". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Parham, Jason (May 2, 2023). "Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Is the New Maestro of the Genre Novel". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  10. ^ Shariatmadari, David (July 8, 2023). "Author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah on policing in America: 'It's a kind of poison'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on November 19, 2023. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  11. ^ Harris, Elizabeth A. (October 3, 2023). "Here Are the Finalists for the 2023 National Book Awards". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  12. ^ "The 2023 National Book Awards Longlist: Fiction". The New Yorker. September 15, 2023. Archived from the original on September 17, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  13. ^ "Here's the longlist for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction". Literary Hub. September 15, 2023. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  14. ^ Nguyen, Sophia (October 3, 2023). "Here are the finalists for the 2023 National Book Awards". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  15. ^ Greenblatt, Leah (October 5, 2023). "The End of the World, According to Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah". Esquire. Archived from the original on November 19, 2023. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  16. ^ "Best of 2023". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on November 20, 2023. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  17. ^ The New York Times Books Staff (November 28, 2023). "The 10 Best Books of 2023". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 28, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
  18. ^ "5 Under 35". National Book Foundation. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  19. ^ Ciabattari, Jane (January 22, 2019). "National Book Critics Circle Announces Finalists for 2018 Awards". National Book Critics Circle. Archived from the original on July 10, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  20. ^ "Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah". Forbes. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  21. ^ Schaub, Michael (February 27, 2019). "PEN America presents literary awards to Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Nafissa Thompson-Spires". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  22. ^ "2019 PRIZE". Aspen Words. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  23. ^ "2019 Dylan Thomas Prize shortlist announced | Books+Publishing". Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  24. ^ "Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Jennifer Croft awarded the 2020 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing by Stanford Libraries". Stanford Libraries. Stanford University. Archived from the original on July 10, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
  25. ^ "Waterstones debut fiction prize shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. July 17, 2023. Archived from the original on July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  26. ^ "The ten contenders for the National Book Award for Fiction". National Book Foundation. July 17, 2023. Archived from the original on September 15, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  27. ^ "Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Best Science Fiction!". Goodreads. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  28. ^ "Announcing the Goodreads Choice Winner in Best Debut Novel!". Goodreads. Archived from the original on December 25, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2023.
  29. ^ Schaub, Michael (March 14, 2024). "Aspen Words Literary Prize 2024 Finalists Revealed". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on March 15, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
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