Penguin Books Blog

Elinor Sisulu, Chair of the Judges, commented:

“Child trafficking, extreme poverty, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, religious intolerance, communal violence and genocide – Uwem Akpan’s short story collection Say You’re One of Them, forces the reader to grapple with this litany of woes that bedevil the lives of African children.  In the hands of a less skilful writer, this could have been just another addition to the endless tales of African victimhood but Akpan’s stories are never didactic.  Far from being helpless victims, Akpan’s child protagonists are invested with vitality and agency that makes them truly memorable.  From Nigeria to Ethiopia, from Gabon to Rwanda, Akpan’s panoramic vision provides an insight into Africa beyond stereotypes.  It was this vision that persuaded the judges to choose this book over all the others, a truly compelling, brilliantly-crafted read.”

ABOUT THE BOOK

In the second of his stories, Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia, revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences of life for children in Africa.

Akpan’s voice is a literary miracle, rendering lives of almost unimaginable deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent.

Uwem Akpan was born in the village of Ikot Akpan Eda in southern Nigeria. After studying philosophy and English at Creighton and Gonzaga universities, he studied theology for three years at the Catholic University of East Africa. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 2003 and received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan in 2006. My Parents’ Bedroom, a story included in this, his first collection, was one of five short stories by African writers chosen as finalists for The Caine Prize for African Writing. In 2007 Akpan began a teaching assignment at a Jesuit college in Harare, Zimbabwe.