UCHE UMEZURIKE: 5 ALBERTA BOOKS THAT INSPIRE ME

Uche Umezurike is a Nigerian author and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Calgary, as well as a columnist at Read Alberta. His short story collection, Double Wahala, Double Trouble (Griots Lounge Publishing, 2021), explores the lives of characters struggling to live, desire, love, and thrive against the eddy of troubles in their world. As part of the Black History Month celebrations in Canada, Uche will be moderating two readings by African Canadian writers on February 7 at SpokenWeb at the University of Alberta and on February 11 at Writing Across Nations at the University of Calgary.

The following books of prose and poetry by Black Canadian writers attune me to how crucial literature is to recuperate marginal lives or narratives, which dominant culture might redact or erase from its archives.

1.  Pourin’ Down Rain by Cheryl Foggo
2.  I Am Still Your Negro by Valerie Mason-John
3. The Response of Weeds by Bertrand Bickersteth
4. This is How We Disappear by Titilope Sonuga
5. Dreaming of Elsewhere by Esi Edugyan

Please go to https://readalberta.ca/articles/uche-umezurike-5-alberta-books-that-inspire-me/ for more information and read why these books inspire Uche.