Okechukwu Nzelu: Here Again Now

The Cheeky Natives

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In this immaculate study of father-son relationships and the black masculinity, Okechukwu introduces to two Black, gay British-Nigerian men. Achike and Ekene find themselves wading through the existential phenomena of being alive, Black and gay while navigating life, ambitions and family.
The story begins with these two but then traces back to the fathers of these men, and their forefathers, in doing so examines a lineage of brokenness, unavailability and abuse.
Who is man and how much of what he is, is a result of what has become and was undone before him?
Okechukwu uses recurrence to emphasise the cyclical nature of life in this novel while exploring Igbo mythology and concepts of life, death and rebirth.
The characters are struck by a tragedy almost a halfway into the book which forces the reader and the characters to participate in the exposition of love and life lost and intimacy unfulfilled. These complexities are compounded by grief and the cruelty of loss as we watch these characters attempt to make sense of iniquity of tragedy.
We sat with Okechukwu to discuss his hauntingly beautiful trans-generational novel on fathers, sons, love and grief.
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