From the Margin to the Fold: The Imprint of Toni Morrison on the Writing of Akwaeke Emezi

Abstract

In early March of 2019, the longlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction was announced. One novel on the list produced a flurry of reactions: Freshwater, by Akwaeke Emezi. Emezi is non-human – ọgbanje – but uses labels such as transgender and non-binary. While Freshwater is marketed as fiction, the book is based on the author’s life. To some readers, Emezi’s presence on the list signaled an important shift away from ossified notions of gender in organizations dedicated to gender parity (Joyner; Akbar). For others, their work didn’t belon on a list of women writers at all because they aren’t a woman. For example, an opinion piece in the London Times absurdly warned that allowing “bearded authors” to be eligible for the prize would open the door to “the same person in future winning best actor and best actress at the Oscars” (Sanderson and Eribake). Yet another faction worried that Emezi’s inclusion on the longlist was actually an oversight – that the judges selected the book before realizing that the author identifies as nonbinary and transgender and kept it on the list so as to appear inclusive. Vic Parsons, for instance, speculates that a “non-binary author who was assigned male at birth” would probably not have been nominated for the prize. So it was that shortly after being longlisted, Freshwater became the center of an online debate around gender identities and awards. Yet amidst this buzzing digital conversation, Emezi repeatedly insisted that the focus of the novel lies elsewhere. In a series of Twitter posts archived on Threader, they write: