Okechukwu Nzelu book launch at Central Library

Okechukwu Nzelu - HERE AGAIN NOW Book Launch at Manchester Central Library, Manchester, 10 March 2022, from £3.00 - Book now

Blackwell’s Books heads to Manchester Central Library to host the launch of Here Again Now, the much-anticipated second novel from award-winning author and “the future of Black British writing” Okechukwu Nzelu, here in conversation with poet and Manchester Writing School lecturer Andrew McMillan.

Andrew McMillan described Okechukwu Nzelu’s debut novel, The Private Joys Of Nnenna Maloney, as “a magnificent novel, full of wit, warmth and tenderness”, and it went on to win a Betty Trask Award and was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Polari First Book Prize. Set in Manchester, where Okechukwu lives (he works in Lancaster as a university lecturer of creative writing), the story of a half-Nigerian teenager searching for meaning was described by The Guardian as “a vivid picture of people seeking security and identity in the maze of modern-day England” and by Booker Prize-winning Bernardine Evaristo as “smart, serious and entertaining”.

The launch of Here Again Now, the much-anticipated second novel from award-winning author and “the future of Black British writing” Okechukwu Nzelu, here in conversation with poet and Manchester Writing School lecturer Andrew McMillan.

The new book, Here Again Now (out with Hachette imprint Dialogue Books on 10 March), is a heart-breaking yet uplifting novel about lovers, fathers and sons, showing the power of family – both the one into which we are born and the one we choose for ourselves. Andrew McMillan calls it: “A powerful and heartbreaking novel; it opens up new, important space in the queer canon. Okechukwu Nzelu is a vital voice.”

Here’s the scenario: “Achike Okoro feels like his life is coming together at last. His top-floor flat in Peckham is as close to home as he can imagine and after years of hard work, he’s about to get his break as an actor. He’s even persuaded his father, Chibuike, to move in with him, grateful to offer the man who raised him as a single parent a home of his own. Between filming trips, Achike is snatching a few days in London with Ekene, his best friend of twenty years, the person who makes him feel whole. Achike can put the terrible things that happened behind him at last; everything is going to be alright. Maybe even better. But after a magical night, when Achike and Ekene come within a hair’s breadth of admitting their feelings for each other, a devastating event rips all three men apart. In the aftermath, it is Ekene and Chibuike who must try to rebuild. And although they have never truly understood each other, grief may bring them both the peace and happiness they’ve been searching for…”

Here Again Now will be available to purchase on the night and Okechukwu will be signing copies after the talk. If you would like a signed copy but cannot make the event, please call Blackwell’s on 0161 274 3331 or email manchester@blackwell.co.uk and they can arrange this for you.