Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah is from Spring Valley, New York. He graduated from SUNY Albany and went on to receive his MFA from Syracuse University. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous publications, including Guernica, Compose: A Journal of Simply Good Writing, Printer's Row, Gravel, and The Breakwater Review, where he was selected by ZZ Packer as the winner of the 2nd Annual Breakwater Review Fiction Contest. Friday Black is his first book.
Paradiso 17 (2026) Hannah Lillith Assadi "Paradiso 17 is a novel of wondrous care and meticulous precision. It works on scales both epic and intimate while guiding the reader on a journey they will not forget. Generations are captured here, loss and pain and miraculous attempt at renewal. A beautiful work."
The Complex (2026) Karan Mahajan "Epic in scope, wonderous in its summoning of distinct characters, vital in its weaving of family and politics. This is a miraculous novel."
Crawl (2025) Max Delsohn "In this megavolt debut, Max Delsohn's wild sense of humor is matched only by the keen precision of the prose. These stories explore gender and what it means to be. Read these sexy, hilarious, electric stories and be awed."
Underspin (2025) E Y Zhao "E. Y. Zhao's Underspin is an eruption of a debut. This novel displays a wondrous ability that renders both the central sport and lives that weave around it with meticulous precision and tremendous heart. The beauty of sport, the spirit of desire and the sacrifice required for greatness are all captured here in this stunner."
Sympathy Tower Tokyo (2025) Rie Qudan "Sympathy Tower Tokyo is a brilliantly ambitious struggle and mediation on language, thought and existence. It considers the implications and limitations of language in a way I've never seen before. In these considerations is offers a new paradigm through which we might reimagine incarceration and the idea of so-called 'criminality.' A wondrous book."
The Antidote (2025) Karen Russell "Here in The Antidote, Karen Russel has summoned her singular brand of alchemy and created an epic of heart and devastation, community and laughter, death and life. A book that has it all. An absolute wonder."
We Pretty Pieces of Flesh (2025) Colwill Brown "With this debut, Colwill Brown announces herself as unforgettable. The music and precision of her language, the fun and fervor of her characters, all of these things make We Pretty Pieces of Flesh a wondrous, luminous novel."
Isaac's Song (2025) Daniel Black "Isaac's Song is an absolutely beautiful book. It's a beautiful song of generational pain and love, a novel that is thrumming with truth and life."
The Road to the Country (2024) Chigozie Obioma "A writer who wields both the grand and the intimate with incredible precision and power. Obioma reminds us that it is all real, even the surreal, and in his hands anything is possible. A wonderous novel."
Say Hello to My Little Friend (2024) Jennine Capó Crucet "Say Hello to My Little Friend is a masterclass in pace and precision. Crucet can make you cry before you've even realized you've become invested and make you laugh even through the hurt. Brilliant."
Wandering Stars (2024) Tommy Orange "If there was any doubt after his incredible debut, there should be none now: Tommy Orange is one of our most important writers. The way he weaves time and life together, demands we remember how our history shapes us. In this novel the pain and resilience of generations are summoned beautifully. A wonderous journey and a necessary reminder."
Last Acts (2024) Alexander Sammartino "Last Acts announces a brilliant new voice. Sammartino is precise, funny and will break your heart all at once. Not to be missed."
Death Valley (2023) Melissa Broder "A journey unlike any you've read before. Death Valley is a beautifully wild leap into the mysterious desert that is grief."
The Best Possible Experience (2023) Nishanth Injam "The Best Possible Experience is a full-hearted, brilliant debut full of necessary beauty. Injam writes of longing, of love, of home and of the Indian diaspora, and as one reads the stories, they find that together they create an epic mosaic of life."
Small Worlds (2023) Caleb Azumah Nelson "In his beautiful new novel Nelson summons the sounds of Black Youth, love and discovery to the page. A celebration of the heart."
House of Cotton (2023) Monica Brashears "Monica Brashears is a stunning new talent. Her debut, House of Cotton, is an incredible work of harsh beauty and a novel you won't forget."
If I Survive You (2022) Jonathan Escoffery "If I Survive You is a collection of brilliant wit, real heart, and electric humor. Jonathan Escoffery masterfully mines from his life and emerges, in this debut, as a talent not to be ignored."
My Monticello (2021) Jocelyn Nicole Johnson "There is a special pleasure in discovering a voice that is vital and unlike anything else you've known before. Jocelyn Nicole Johnson is such a voice. One that is necessary and brimming with both heart and imagination, Johnson's My Monticello is a beautiful debut work of art."
How to Wrestle a Girl (2021) Venita Blackburn "How to Wrestle a Girl is a work of stunning grace and rhythm. In these stories Venita Blackburn reminds us she is a writer unlike any other, her stories propelled by voice and wit and harsh beauty."
The Atmospherians (2021) Alex McElroy "The Atmospherians is what happens when an amazing idea meets stunning awareness meets brilliant writing. A book dazzling with power."
Milk Blood Heat (2021) Dantiel W Moniz "The stories in this book are rigorous and complex, lush and surprising. They are visceral, full of the intimate awe of existing in flesh. A wonder of a debut."
