Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah se erige como una voz potente de su generación, abordando problemas sociales apremiantes con una urgencia escalofriante. Su prosa, tejida con ironía mordaz y honestidad cruda, profundiza en temas de identidad, racismo y vulnerabilidad humana. A través de sus narrativas, obliga a los lectores a confrontar las facetas más oscuras de nuestro mundo, pero lo hace con una corriente subterránea de empatía y esperanza. El estilo distintivo de Adjei-Brenyah deja un impacto profundo, provocando reflexiones esenciales sobre la naturaleza de la experiencia humana.
From the start of this extraordinary debut, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's writing will grab you, haunt you, enrage and invigorate you. By placing ordinary characters in extraordinary situations, Adjei-Brenyah reveals the violence, injustice, and painful absurdities that black men and women contend with every day in this country. These stories tackle urgent instances of racism and cultural unrest, and explore the many ways we fight for humanity in an unforgiving world.
Two top women gladiators fight for their freedom within a depraved private prison system reminiscent of America's own. Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker are stars of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a controversial program in the profit-driven private prison industry. Prisoners compete as Links in Chain-Gangs, engaging in death-matches for the ultimate prize: their freedom. Thurwar and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are fan favorites, with Thurwar eyeing her release after a few matches, a burden she carries along with her lethal hammer. As she prepares to leave her fellow Links, she contemplates how to preserve their humanity against the backdrop of these brutal games. However, CAPE's corporate owners will go to any lengths to maintain their status quo, creating devastating obstacles for Thurwar. The narrative shifts between the Links in the field, protestors, and CAPE employees, offering a kaleidoscopic and critical view of the American prison system's unholy alliance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration. It serves as a clear-eyed reckoning with the true meaning of freedom in this country.
The annual--and essential--collection of the newest voices in short fiction, selected this year by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, and Beth Piatote.Who are the most promising short story writers working today? Where do we look to discover the future stars of literary fiction? This book will offer a dozen answers to these questions.The stories collected here represent the most recent winners of the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers, which recognizes twelve writers who have made outstanding debuts in literary magazines in the previous year. They are chosen by a panel of distinguished judges, themselves innovators of the short story form: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, and Beth Piatote. Each piece comes with an introduction by its original editors, whose commentaries provide valuable insight into what magazines are looking for in their submissions, and showcase the vital work they do to nurture literature's newest voices.
Loretta Thurwar a Hamara Stacker alias Staxxx jsou hvězdy Galejnické extraligy, základního kamene nesmírně populárního a krajně kontroverzního výdělečného Trestaneckého estrádního programu (TEP). Je to návrat gladiátorů a vězni bojují o nejvyšší cenu ze všech — osobní svobodu. V rámci TEPu vězni cestují a zápasí spolu na život a na smrt před natřískanými stadiony, zatímco venku protestují mravně uvědomělí demonstranti. Thurwarku a Staxxx, členky stejného týmu a zároveň milenky, má publikum ze všech nejradši. A pokud všechno dobře dopadne, Thurwarku čeká už jen několik zápasů a bude volná, což je pro ni břemeno stejně těžké jako její smrtonosné kladivo. Jenže korporátní vlastníci TEPu se při udržování stávajících poměrů nezastaví před ničím a překážky, které jí kladou do cesty, mají ničivý dopad.