Scribe has signed The Liquid Eye Of A Moon, the debut novel by 2018 MacDowell fellow and 2019 Graywolf Africa Prize finalist Uchenna Awoke. Publisher Molly Slight signed UK and Commonwealth rights from Annie DeWitt at the Shipmann Agency, and the book will be co-published by Catapult in the US. It will be published in the UK in 2024.
The Liquid Eye Of A Moon is a 'poetic, semi-autobiographical novel' that explores family, resilience, storytelling, and personal and political upheaval from the perspective of a young boy, Dimkpa, born into the lowest caste in eastern Nigeria.
Slight said: "I was blown away by the startling moments of poetry in Uchenna Awoke's The Liquid Eye of a Moon. Dimkpa is sometimes cheeky, sometimes downright offensive, always characterful, and occasionally even profound in his observations of modern Nigerian life. I think Awoke is a major new talent and this is an essential novel told with authenticity, humour, and heart. I am delighted to be collaborating with Kendall Storey of Catapult in the US to bring it to a global English-language readership."