Dear Senthuran

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir
First edition (US)
AuthorAkwaeke Emezi
LanguageEnglish
GenreMemoir
PublisherRiverhead Books (US)
Faber & Faber (UK)
Publication dateJune 8, 2021
Publication placeNigeria
Media typePrint
ISBN9780593329191
Preceded byThe Death of Vivek Oji 
WebsiteOfficial website

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir is a 2021 memoir written by Nigerian author Akwaeke Emezi. It was first published in 2021 by Riverhead Books in the United States and Faber and Faber in the United Kingdom.

In 2022, it won the Israel Fishman Nonfiction Stonewall Book Award.

Reception

A writer for The New York Times, Kim Tran, describes the book as “a metaphysical journey told through Igbo cosmology.” Akwaeke Emezi, who grew up in Aba, invites the reader to “imagine being ogbanje, like me.” Shondaland calls the author, “[One] of our greatest living writers.”

"Akwaeke Emezi writes transformative, transfixing letters to themselves in a magnificent reimagining of what a memoir can and should be," Times Magazine, in their 100 must read books of 2021.

"A full-throated and provocative memoir in letters from the New York Times-bestselling author of The Death of Vivek Oji, a dazzling literary talent whose works cut to the quick of the spiritual self," Esquire writes.

References

  1. ↑ Habila, Helon (July 29, 2021). "Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi review – a series of fights". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 29, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  2. ↑ Aderemi, Adewojumi (June 10, 2021). "AKWAEKE EMEZI PUBLISHES THEIR MEMOIR, DEAR SENTHURAN: A BLACK SPIRIT MEMOIR". The Native. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  3. ↑ Williams, Keishel (June 19, 2021). "Akwaeke Emezi's memoir is a healing ritual for the displaced". Washington Post. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Stonewall Book Awards List | Rainbow Roundtable". www.ala.org. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  5. ↑ "A Simple Introduction to Igbo Cosmology". ⊙ma's Garden. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  6. ↑ Tran, Kim (June 7, 2021). "Akwaeke Emezi: 'Imagine Being Ogbanje, Like Me'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  7. ↑ "DEAR SENTHURAN". Akwaeke Emezi. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  8. ↑ Time Magazine. "Dear Senthuran". time.com. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  9. ↑ Emezi, Akwaeke. Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir. Faber & Faber, Limited. ISBN 978-0-571-36614-9.