Caleb Azumah Nelson

Two young people meet at a pub in South East London. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists - he a photographer, she a dancer - trying to make their mark in a city that by turns celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in love. But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence.

Open Water

Small Worlds

The highly anticipated new novel from the author of OPEN WATER - available for pre-order now 'A world can be two people, occupying a space where they don't have to explain. Where they can feel beautiful. Where they might feel free.' Praise for OPEN WATER: 'A tender and touching love story, beautifully told' Observer 10 Best Debut Novelists of 2021 'A beautiful and powerful novel about the true and sometimes painful depths of love' Candice Carty-Williams, bestselling author of QUEENIE 'An unforgettable debut... it's Sally Rooney meets Michaela Coel meets Teju Cole' New York Times 'A love song to Black art and thought' Yaa Gyasi, bestselling author of HOMEGOING and TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM 'An amazing debut novel. You should read this book. Let's hear it for Caleb Azumah Nelson, also known as the future' Benjamin Zephaniah 'A very touching and heartfelt book' Diana Evans, award-winning author of ORDINARY PEOPLE 'A lyrical modern love story, brilliant on music and art, race and London life, I enjoyed it hugely' David Nicholls, author of ONE DAY and SWEET SORROW 'Caleb is a star in the making' Nikesh Shukla, editor of THE GOOD IMMIGRANT and BROWN BABY 'A stunning piece of art' Bolu Babalola, bestselling author of LOVE IN COLOUR 'For those that are missing the tentative depiction of love in Normal People, Caleb Azumah Nelson's Open Water is set to become one of 2021's unmissable books. Utterly transporting, it'll leave you weeping and in awe.' Stylist 'An exhilarating new voice in British fiction' Vogue 'A poetic novel about Black identity and first love in the capital from one of Britain's most exciting young voices' Harper's Bazaar 'An intense, elegant debut' Guardian

An exhilarating and expansive new novel about fathers and sons, faith and friendship from National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree and Costa First Novel Award winning author Caleb Azumah Nelson One of the most acclaimed and internationally bestselling "unforgettable" (New York Times) debuts of the 2021, Caleb Azumah Nelson's London-set love story Open Water took the US by storm and introduced the world to a salient and insightful new voice in fiction. Now, with his second novel Small Worlds, the prodigious Azumah Nelson brings another set of enduring characters to brilliant life in his signature rhythmic, melodic prose. Set over the course of three summers, Small Worlds follows Stephen, a first-generation Londoner born to Ghanian immigrant parents, brother to Ray, and best friend to Adeline. On the cusp of big life changes, Stephen feels pressured to follow a certain path--a university degree, a move out of home--but when he decides instead to follow his first love, music, his world and family fractures in ways he didn't foresee. Now Stephen must find a path and peace for himself: a space he can feel beautiful, a space he can feel free. Moving from London, England to Accra, Ghana and back again, Small Worlds is an exquisite and intimate new novel about the people and places we hold close, from one of the most "elegant, poetic" (CNN) and important voices of a generation.

Twee jonge mensen ontmoeten elkaar in een pub in Zuidoost-Londen. Allebei zijn ze Zwart, allebei hebben ze beurzen gewonnen voor privéscholen waar ze zich niet thuis voelden, allebei proberen ze hun stempel te drukken op een stad die hen zowel viert als afwijst, hij als fotograaf, zij als danseres. Aarzelend en teder worden ze verliefd op elkaar. Maar ook mensen die voor elkaar voorbestemd lijken kunnen elkaar kwijtraken door angst en geweld.
Open water is een schrijnend liefdesverhaal en een indrukwekkende blik op ras en mannelijkheid. Wat betekent het om mens te zijn in een wereld die jou alleen als een Zwart lichaam ziet, om kwetsbaar te zijn als je alleen gerespecteerd wordt om je kracht, om veiligheid te vinden in de liefde, alleen om die kwijt te raken?

Open water

»Eure Blicke begegnen sich in der Stille. Es braucht keine Worte. Dies ist eine ehrliche Begegnung.« Zum ersten Mal sehen sie sich in einem Pub in South East London. Beide sind schwarz, beide haben schon in der Schule nicht recht dazugehört. Und beide versuchen nun als junge Künstler – er ist Fotograf, sie Tänzerin – ihren Platz zu finden in der englischen Hauptstadt, die sie mal umarmt und mal abstößt. Sie teilen so viel miteinander, die Liebe zu afroamerikanischen Autoren, zum Hip- Hop, und er weiß schon bei der ersten Begegnung, dass sie füreinander bestimmt sind. Aber sie bewegen sich nicht im luftleeren Raum, und die Welt kann ein grausamer Ort sein. Caleb Azumah Nelson erzählt auf schmerzlich schöne Weise die große Liebesgeschichte zweier junger Menschen und erkundet zugleich Fragen von Identität, Diskriminierung und Unterdrückung. Wie (über)lebt man in einer Welt, in der man nicht gesehen wird, in einer Gesellschaft, die einem ein Label aufdrückt? Was heißt es, jedes Mal Angst haben zu müssen, sobald man seine Wohnung verlässt, was, verletzlich zu sein, wenn nur Stärke zu zählen scheint? Und wie fühlt es sich an, in der Liebe Geborgenheit zu finden – und wieder zu verlieren? Caleb Azumah Nelson hat einen der aufregendsten und aufrichtigsten, einen der wichtigsten Debütromane des Jahres geschrieben.

Freischwimmen

Sarah Hall

Eley Williams

Jan Carson

Jack Houston

A young woman’s birthday party is disturbed by the vision of a homeless man sleeping under an arrangement of mocking fruit... A late-night text conversation goes awry when a forwarded link to a live feed of gathering walruses doesn’t have its intended effect... A woman hopes a pending announcement to her in-laws will finally give her husband the attention he craves... The stories shortlisted for the 2020 BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University demonstrate how a single moment might become momentous; how a small encounter or exchange can irreversibly change the way others see you, or the way you see yourself. From the struggles of two women trapped by joblessness and addiction to the hopes of two teenage brothers embarking on a new life without the protection of their parents, these stories show us what happens when we fail to relate to each other as well as the refuge that belonging affords.Now celebrating its fifteenth year, the BBC National Short Story Award is one of the most prestigious for a single short story, with the winning writer receiving £15,000, and the four further shortlisted authors £600 each. The BBC National Short Story Award with Cambridge University was established to raise the profile of the short form and the writers shortlisted for this year’s award join distinguished alumni such as Zadie Smith, Lionel Shriver, Rose Tremain, William Trevor, Sarah Hall and Mark Haddon. As well as rewarding the most renowned short story writers, the Award has raised the profile of new writers including Ingrid Persaud, Jo Lloyd, K J Orr, Julian Gough, Cynan Jones and Clare Wigfall. The shortlist will be announced on the 11th September 2020, with the winner to be announced live on BBC Radio 4 Front Row in October.

The BBC National Short Story Award 2020

An exhilarating and expansive new novel about fathers and sons, faith and friendship from National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree and Costa First Novel Award winning author Caleb Azumah Nelson One of the most acclaimed and internationally bestselling “unforgettable” (New York Times) debuts of the 2021, Caleb Azumah Nelson’s London-set love story Open Water took the US by storm and introduced the world to a salient and insightful new voice in fiction. Now, with his second novel Small Worlds, the prodigious Azumah Nelson brings another set of enduring characters to brilliant life in his signature rhythmic, melodic prose. Set over the course of three summers, Small Worlds follows Stephen, a first-generation Londoner born to Ghanian immigrant parents, brother to Ray, and best friend to Adeline. On the cusp of big life changes, Stephen feels pressured to follow a certain path—a university degree, a move out of home—but when he decides instead to follow his first love, music, his world and family fractures in ways he didn’t foresee. Now Stephen must find a path and peace for himself: a space he can feel beautiful, a space he can feel free. Moving from London, England to Accra, Ghana and back again, Small Worlds is an exquisite and intimate new novel about the people and places we hold close, from one of the most “elegant, poetic” (CNN) and important voices of a generation.

Aguas abiertas

Ellena Savage

Rebecca May Johnson

Tessa Hadley

Roger Deakin

Jamal Mahjoub

Jo Hamya

Amy Key

Amy-Jane Beer

Michael Malay

Niellah Arboine

Marchelle Farrell

Essays from the Water's Edge

By the River

Mare aperto

Victoria Adukwei Bulley

The White Review is an arts and literature quarterly magazine, with triannual print and monthly online editions. The magazine launched in London in February 2011 to provide 'a space for a new generation to express itself unconstrained by form, subject or genre', and publishes fiction, essays, interviews with writers and artists, poetry, and series of artworks. It takes its name and a degree of inspiration from La Revue Blanche, a Parisian magazine which ran from 1889 to 1903.

Caleb Azumah Nelson

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