Uploaded March 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
oin Akwaeke Emezi for the launch of their latest novel, Bitter, which explores the stakes of social revolution and how youth lead the way. The companion novel to Pet—a 2019 finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature—Bitter follows a young artist torn between staying within the walls of her studio or protesting in the streets against the deep injustices that grip her hometown of Lucille.
The program begins with a reading from Bitter, followed by a conversation with Nic Stone, author of Dear Martin, about Emezi’s writing process and their wide-ranging career as an author and video artist. Emezi’s other novels include The New York Times bestseller The Death of Vivek Oji (2020) and Freshwater (2018), which was shortlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award.
oin Akwaeke Emezi for the launch of their latest novel, Bitter, which explores the stakes of social revolution and how youth lead the way. The companion novel to Pet—a 2019 finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature—Bitter follows a young artist torn between staying within the walls of her studio or protesting in the streets against the deep injustices that grip her hometown of Lucille.
The program begins with a reading from Bitter, followed by a conversation with Nic Stone, author of Dear Martin, about Emezi’s writing process and their wide-ranging career as an author and video artist. Emezi’s other novels include The New York Times bestseller The Death of Vivek Oji (2020) and Freshwater (2018), which was shortlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award.
