Chude-Sokei explores the historical connections between race and technology. He looks back to the time of the transatlantic trade in enslaved people and works his way through various historical stages to current issues surrounding artificial intelligence.
At 190 pages, Les lieux qu’habitent mes rêves (The Places Where My Dreams Reside) is a short novel. It is a thoroughly spiritual book, but one that introduces different forms of spirituality.
Many scenes in this powerful novel about race, family dynamics, mental health, trauma and queerness are surprising, thrillingly lustful or abysmally ugly – they will likely burn themselves into the reader’s memory.
Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs is one of the strangest books I have read recently – and I mean that in an extremely positive way. I admit I had to get into it first, but then this unusual way of talking about dolphins, whales, seals and co. in connection with Black experiences won me over.
Betiel Berhe explores and explains how closely related the dimensions of race and class are, by way of her own biography and various events of recent years.
Bernardine Evaristo’s Mr. Loverman is the perfect book for fans of the series Grace and Frankie. It’s the story of an older gay couple in love, a rollercoaster ride of emotions between secrecy and coming out, lightened up by extremely funny characters.
Jessica George’s debut novel Maame has the air of being the well-behaved little sister to Candice Carty-Williams Queenie. Like Queenie, Maddie, the protagonist, goes through crises and explores her sexuality, but she is – perhaps because of the Christian upbringing in her Ghanaian family home – far less reckless.
In her moving memoir, Zauner recounts the death of her mother Chongmi and her subsequent grieving process, a time during which cooking brought her great comfort.
Kavita Bhanot is a writer, editor, translator, teacher, and activist based in Birmingham, UK. We were lucky enough to chat to her about her work and her perspective on translation – translation as a political act, a form of violence, and a tool to foster dialogue when used responsibly.