''Freshwater'' is a 2018

autobiographical fiction An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

novel by

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

writer Akwaeke Emezi. Emezi's debut novel, it tells the story of Ada, a girl with multiple

ogbanje An ''ọgbanje'' is a term in Odinani ( Igbo: ọ̀dị̀nànị̀) for what was thought to be an evil spirit that would deliberately plague a family with misfortune. Belief in ọgbanje in Igboland is not as strong as it once was, although there ar ...

dwelling inside her. A TV series based on the novel is under development by FX.

Plot

''Freshwater'' tells the semi-autobiographical story of the protagonist, Ada, a Nigerian student in her final year of college who finds out that she has three spirits living in her subconscious. They eventually take control of her, threatening to ruin her life and sanity. Emezi explores their

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

heritage's views on spirituality and gender roles alongside those of Western construction and invites their audience to think critically about this spirit/body binary.

Reception

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' called ''Freshwater'' "a startling début novel"; ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called it "a remarkable debut"; and the ''

LA Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called it "dazzling". ''Freshwater'' was longlisted for numerous significant awards. ''Freshwater'' was a ''New York Times'' Notable Book, was named a Best Book of the Year by the ''New Yorker'' and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. Emezi is also recognized as a 2018

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...

"5 Under 35" honoree. In 2019, ''Freshwater'' was nominated for the

Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

— the first time a

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

transgender author has been nominated for the prize. Kate Williams, the chair of the judges, called it a "historic moment". Williams said that the panel did not know Emezi was non-binary when the book was chosen, but she said Emezi was happy to be nominated. Non-binary commentator Vic Parsons wrote that the nomination raised uncomfortable questions, asking: "would a non-binary author who was assigned male at birth have been longlisted? I highly doubt it." After the nomination, it was announced that the Women's Prize Trust was working on new guidelines for

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

, non-binary, and

genderfluid Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typicall ...

authors.

Controversy

After Emezi posted tweets regarding Nigerian author

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ( ; born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. She was described in ''The Times Literary Supplement'' as "the most prominent" of a "procession of criticall ...

's association with transphobic public figures, Adichie (who had previously helped publish Emezi's work in an online magazine) asked that all references to her name be removed from the "about the author" section of the book jacket on all future copies of ''Freshwater''.

Awards

*2019

Nommo Award The Nommo Award is a literary award presented by ''The African Speculative Fiction Society''. The award is named after the Nommo. The awards recognize works of speculative fiction by Africans, defined as "science fiction, fantasy, stories of magi ...

,won * 2019

Otherwise Award The Otherwise Award, formerly known as the James Tiptree Jr. Award, is an American annual literary prize for works of science fiction or fantasy that expand or explore one's understanding of gender. It was initiated in February 1991 by science f ...

'', won'' *2019

, nominated

Adaptation

In May 2019, news announced that the novel was optioned by FX for a TV series adaptation. Emezi will write the screenplay and executive produce the series with Tamara P. Carter.

FX Productions FX Productions (FXP) is an American television and in-house production company owned by FX Networks (and jointed with Disney Television Studios), a division of the Walt Disney Television unit of The Walt Disney Company. The studio currently produc ...

will produce it alongside Kevin Wandell and Lindsey Donahue.

References

{{Nommo Award Winners 2018 American novels 2018 fantasy novels 2018 LGBT-related literary works American fantasy novels African-American young adult novels American young adult novels Debut fantasy novels 2018 debut novels Nigerian English-language novels Nigerian fantasy novels Nigerian LGBT novels 2010s LGBT novels American LGBT novels Novels by Akwaeke Emezi 2018 Nigerian novels James Tiptree Jr. Award-winning works Grove Press books