In Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s fiction, shoppers fight to the death on Black Friday and prisoners battle each other on television for their freedom. The stories are strange and violent, but readers recognise the world in them. That is the point.
Queens and Spring Valley
Adjei-Brenyah was born in Queens, New York City, and grew up in Spring Valley, New York. Both of his parents are from Ghana.
Learning to write
He attended the graduate writing programme at Syracuse University, drawn by the chance to study with the celebrated short story writer George Saunders.
Friday Black
His debut, the story collection Friday Black, came out in 2018. The stories use satire and speculative fiction to explore racism, consumerism and violence in America. The title story imagines Black Friday shopping as a bloodbath.
“The Finkelstein 5”
The collection’s opening story, about the killing of Black children and the acquittal of their killer, drew attention for its anger and inventiveness.
Recognition
In 2018, the National Book Foundation named him one of its “5 under 35” honorees. In 2019, Friday Black won the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award.
Chain-Gang All-Stars
His first novel, Chain-Gang All-Stars, published in 2023, imagines a private prison system where inmates fight in televised gladiator battles for a chance at freedom. It is a sharp critique of mass incarceration and entertainment.
Acclaim
Chain-Gang All-Stars was shortlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction and named one of the “10 Best Books of 2023” by The New York Times.
Style
His writing mixes humour, horror and moral urgency. Critics often compare his satire to Saunders’s, but his concerns are rooted in the experience of Black Americans.
Ghanaian roots
Adjei-Brenyah’s name reflects his Ghanaian heritage. He is part of a generation of writers with Ghanaian parents, including Yaa Gyasi, who have become major voices in American fiction.
Where to start
New readers often begin with Friday Black, since the stories are short and show his range, from the title story’s shopping nightmare to quieter pieces about grief and family. Chain-Gang All-Stars is longer and darker, but readers who enjoy the stories usually follow him there.
Exaggeration as truth
His stories exaggerate the world until it becomes absurd. Readers laugh, then realise that the absurd version is not far from the news. That uncomfortable recognition is what makes his work stick.
