If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Nnedi Okorafor says her new novel Death of the Author "most personal autobiographical work" yet, while still being her trademark science fiction and fantasy

At the LA Times's Festival of Books, Nnedi Okorafor broke down how her new book, Death of the Author, blended elements of her life from a high-achieving Nigerian American family

Nnedi Okorafor is one of the most critically acclaimed writers in fiction today. She's won an Eisner Award, a Nebula Award, a Hugo Award, a World Fantasy Award, and many more. But you knew that already, didn't you? The prolific writer is back with a new novel called Death of the Author, which she spoke about on a panel at the LA Times's Festival of Books. Unlike Okorafor's previous work, Death of the Author is about a writer much like herself. 

"I've written predominantly what is considered science fiction and fantasy. And Death of the Author is my most personal, autobiographical work. It's fiction, but it's taken from me," says the author. "So it's natural that Zelu [the protagonist] would be a writer, and so that's the tip of it. But as I wrote her, I realized there were a lot of things that I had to say about writing, and they just came out very naturally in the story."

The writer was quick to also note that while Zelu from Death of the Author has a lot of commonalities with her, the character does things that Okorafor doesn't do - like smoke marijuana. So when you're reading Death of the Author, don't take everything that Zelu does as a 1:1 reflection of her writer. 

Death of the Author contributes to a vibrant tradition within fiction of writers examining writing and the "crazy" (Okorafor's words, not mine) folks who sit behind keyboards and put thought and feeling into prose. Most recently, Percival Everett's novel, Erasure, was adapted into the Academy Award-winning film, American Fiction, starring Jeffrey Wright. Will we see Okorafor's Death of the Author get the same cinematic treatment? We'll have to wait and see. 


Just like yourself, the Popverse staff spends a whole lot of time with our respective noses in respective books. It's why we've come up with stuff like:

...and a whole lot more. Join our metaphorical library, won't you? There are no late fees and you can be as loud as you want, so long as the people you live with are OK with it.

 

About Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Dates

-

Location

Los Angeles

Visit the event page
×
Jules Chin Greene

Jules Chin Greene: Jules Chin Greene is a journalist and Jack Kirby enthusiast. He has written about comics, video games, movies, and television for sites such as Nerdist, AIPT, Multiverse of Color, and Screen Rant.

Comments

Want to join the discussion? Please activate your account first.
Visit Reedpop ID if you need to resend the confirmation email.

View Comments (0)

Find out how we conduct our review by reading our review policy