The first review of my debut, Technologies of the Self, is out at Media Diversified by Micah Yongo — and it’s glowing:
“Technologies of the Self is an ingenious examination of the layers that inform identity, and the struggle to shape how its ‘drum will sound’. If you’re a fan of Junot Díaz, or of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, you’ll find similar themes covered here with flair and humour, and yet magically packed into far fewer words.”
Sadie Forsythe has a wonderful review out too.
Meanwhile, Sara Jafari interviewed me about the book for Spread the Word. We talk about science fiction, science, politics, representation, Muslims in literature, modernity, NWA, Breaking Bad, and my tenuous grasp on reality, while managing to also reference Hallaq, Asad, Mitchell, Arendt, al-Ghazali, and Foucault, potentially scaring off the less academically-minded…
I also spoke on February 27 — Dominican Independence Day! — at the groundbreaking Bare Lit Festival in London, run by Media Diversified. You can watch the panel I spoke on, “(Re)writing Pasts and Futures,” with Zen Cho, Tosin Coker, and Tendai Huchu, and moderated by Patrick Vernon, below. Indiewire singled out the panel as “one of the festival’s signature events.” Bare Lit is the first literary festival for writers of color in the U.K. It was empowering and inspiring.
The New York Times featured the festival. Zen Cho, Sara Jafari, and Naomi Frisby reviewed it.
Engspurdishabic 