Dear Senthuran

A Black Spirit Memoir

By: Akwaeke Emezi

Narrated by: Akwaeke Emezi

Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Featured on the Cover of Time Magazine as a 2021 Next Generation Leader

“A once-in-a-generation voice.” (Vulture)

“One of our greatest living writers.” (Shondaland)

A full-throated and provocative memoir in letters from the New York Times bestselling author, “a dazzling literary talent whose works cut to the quick of the spiritual self” (Esquire)

In three critically acclaimed novels, Akwaeke Emezi has introduced readers to a landscape marked by familial tensions, Igbo belief systems, and a boundless search for what it means to be free. Now, in this extraordinary memoir, the bestselling author of The Death of Vivek Oji reveals the harrowing yet resolute truths of their own life. Through candid, intimate correspondence with friends, lovers, and family, Emezi traces the unfolding of a self and the unforgettable journey of a creative spirit stepping into power in the human world. Their story weaves through transformative decisions about their gender and body, their precipitous path to success as a writer, and the turmoil of relationships on an emotional, romantic, and spiritual plane, culminating in a book that is as tender as it is brutal.

Electrifying and inspiring, animated by the same voracious intelligence that distinguishes Emezi's fiction, Dear Senthuran is a revelatory account of storytelling, self, and survival.

©2021 Akwaeke Emezi (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Named a Best Book of the Year by Time, Vulture, Marie Claire, Teen Vogue, Lit Hub, Autostraddle, Bookpage, Bookriot, and Them

“A thing of great beauty.... Dear Senthuran is about powerful excellence, especially the excellence that appears in bodies that aren’t white and aren’t male. Emezi is changing the world and our reaction to this kind of power.” (The Paris Review)

“An audacious sojourn through the terror and beauty of refusing to explain yourself.” (New York Times Book Review)

“Written in imagistic language that is both poetic and crystalline, Dear Senthuran is an honest and lyrical accounting of a boundless mind exploring the wide expanse of creativity and experience. Authentic and vulnerable, the writing winds through the depths of wrenching wounds, but also explores the beauty in not pretending to be less that one truly is.” (NPR)

Poignant Reflections in Letter Form

I'm grateful for the wisdom Emezi shares in this book. I love their voice, it's extremely calming and easy to listen to; perfectly mild, biting, and dark. I feel calm immediately when I hear it.

I appreciate that they did this through letter-style vignettes, illustrating snapshots of their relationships with the people who've made an impact on them. i also appreciate their candor about their inner experience.

I don't know if what I imagine is true, but I imagined I could understand more about the human organism that created the book Freshwater, listening to your book. Freshwater helped me recognize myself, and I felt like Emezi was sharing these letters with people like me in mind, who wanted to know more about their specific, individual human experience, and how that made them want to write stories.

I'm glad Emezi is not trying to be Nabokov, and they should never, because their own experience is fascinating, and I appreciate the fact that they share themselves in this book.

Bizarre, enthralling

I cried a few times while reading this book. As a Black woman born in the US, I could relate to a lot of what Emezi wrote about. Deeply moving, profound, and wise. Highly recommend. Took some getting used to that the author views themself as non human. Also, Emezi reads somewhat monotonously, so it took effort to focus on what they were saying. Wish I found this book sooner.

Stunning

I wish I could drink the words on these pages each morning. A must read.

The most important book i have ever read

This book saved my life. Gave voice to the truths that I knew but did not have language for. I am endlessly grateful for this work. Thank you Akwaeke.

Beautiful, gripping, & deeply relatable

I feel immense gratitude to Akwaeke Emezi for writing and narrating this book. I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that this book entered my life at the perfect time — and changed it for the better. Deeply raw and personal, this book left me inspired to embrace change — and my own being.

Amazing writing

Beautiful writing. The way the author turns a phrase is like word candy. Amazing

Devoured this book!

Emezi is amazing, their words unleash a flood of emotions and beg the reader to self reflect.