Dear Senthuran

Akwaeke Emezi has already drawn readers into novels shaped by strained family bonds, Igbo spiritual beliefs, and a persistent longing for liberty. This memoir turns to Emezi's own life, told through frank, personal letters written to friends, lovers, and family. Through these exchanges, Emezi traces the growth of a self and the path of a creative spirit learning to take up a place among people in the human world.

The book covers Emezi's decisions about gender and the body, their swift rise as a published writer, and the emotional, romantic, and spiritual entanglements that accompanied each of these. Its tone holds tenderness and harshness together, and it presents the story as a reflection on storytelling, identity, and endurance.

For readers who know Emezi as the author of The Death of Vivek Oji and their other fiction, the memoir offers a more direct look at the life behind those books.