Walking on Cowrie Shells focuses on the lives of hyphenated-Americans with a multi-cultural heritage in the United States and Africa. The book spans genres - literary realism, horror, mystery, YA, science fiction - and features complex, fully-embodied characters: tongue-tied linguistic anthropologists, comic book enthusiasts and even water goddesses. The author hopes her stories entertain readers while also offering them a counterpoint to prevalent "heart of darkness" writing that too often depicts a singular "African" experience plagued by locusts, hunger, and tribal in-fighting.

About the Author

Nana Nkweti is a Cameroonian-American writer, Caine Prize finalist, and graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her award-winning work has garnered fellowships from MacDowell, Vermont Studio Center, Ucross, Byrdcliffe, Kimbilio, Hub City Writers, the Stadler Center for Poetry, the Wurlitzer Foundation, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Clarion West Writers Workshop.

Nana's writing has been published in journals and magazines such as Brittle Paper, New Orleans Review, and The Baffler, amongst others. Her short story collection, Walking on Cowrie Shells, is forthcoming from Graywolf on June 1, 2021.

Walking on Cowrie Shells is published by The Indigo Press in May 2022.

Reviews

'Nkweti's lyrical linguistic choices aptly charm the tongue and help to deliver a performance, which is fitting for this collection of stories, because they all fizzle across genre and cultural boundaries.'

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdx6Q3IAl7p/?hl=en

-- @taslima * Instagram *

'I loved Kweti's nuanced insights.'

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcjKvKCL9dt/?hl=en

-- @barrettbookreviews * Instagram *

'The world needs more books like this which hold a sharp yet empathetic torch to the Black experience.'

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcIu0CDq0zK/?hl=en

-- @canreadwillread * Instagram *

What to read when 2021 is just around the corner
'In her powerful, genre-bending debut story collection, Nana Nkweti mixes deft realism with clever inversions of genre.'
https://therumpus.net/2020/12/what-to-read-when-2021-is-just-around-the-corner/

* The Rumpus *

Most Anticipated: The Great First-Half 2021 Book Preview
'This dazzler of a debut shines a spotlight on lives that bridge the divide between the cultures of Cameroon and America.'
https://themillions.com/2021/01/most-anticipated-the-great-first-half-2021-book-preview.html

* The Millions *

Starred review
'Boisterous and high-spirited debut stories by a talented new writer.'
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nana-nkweti/walking-on-cowrie-shells/

* Kirkus Reviews *

'This is a groundbreaking and vital work.'
Starred Review
https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781644450543

* Publisher's Weekly *

May/June 2021 issue

'A vivacious collection with sentences that sizzle on the page. . . . Nkweti's book is sharp and gorgeous.'

* Women's Review of Books *

Nana Nkweti's Walking on Cowrie Shells Offers Diverse and Complex Story-worlds
'Nkweti's writing is a gem. Funny and loaded with turns of phrases, it incites chuckles and some laughs but also tears and wonder.'
https://brittlepaper.com/2021/05/nana-nkwetis-walking-on-cowrie-shells-offers-diverse-and-complex-story-worlds/

-- Ainehi Edoro * Brittle Paper *

Exerpt: The Statistician's Wife
https://www.afreada.com/stories/the-statisticians-wife

* Afreada *

10 Debut Books to Read This June
Everything Nkweti does feels completely refreshing as she twists and turns the expectations of what a short story can be.
https://debutiful.net/2021/06/01/10-debut-books-to-read-this-june/

* Debutiful *

Starred Review: Walking on Cowrie Shells
'a cluster of 10 dazzling stories that are as diverse as they are vibrant.'
https://bookpage.com/reviews/26294-nana-nkweti-walking-cowrie-shells-fiction#.YJPdiy9Q0UG

-- Matthew jackson * Bookpage *

10 Short Story Collections to Read This Summer: For Short Trips and Taking Sips
'acrobatic and delightful prose'
https://lithub.com/10-short-story-collections-to-read-this-summer/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit%20Hub%20Daily:%20June%203%2C%202021&utm_term=lithub_master_list

-- Kerri Arsenault * Literary Hub *

20 Best New Books of June 2021
https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/g36518074/best-new-books-june-2021/?utm_campaign=socialflowTWOPR&utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=twitter

* Oprah Daily *

These Stories Dance Deftly Between America And Cameroon
'WALKING ON COWRIE SHELLS is a terrific read, each story different and varied from the one before. Nkweti has proven herself a bright new star.'
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/07/1003380153/these-stories-dance-deftly-between-america-and-cameroon

-- Martha Anne Toll * NPR *

Briefly Noted
'Lively and fast-paced, funny and tragic, these stories refuse a singular African experience in favor of a vivid plurality.'
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/14/phase-six-walking-on-cowrie-shells-the-house-of-fragile-things-and-there-plant-eyes

* The New Yorker *

Review: Nana Nkweti's Tales of Cameroonians at Home and in America

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/books/review/walking-on-cowrie-shells-nana-nkweti.html

-- Deesha Philvaw * The New York Times *

Review: Walking on Cowrie Shells by Nana Nkweti

'The complexity, ambition, variety - it's a debut collection that sings from the page, story after story.'

https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/book-reviews/walking-on-cowrie-shells-by-nana-nkweti

-- Heather McDaid * The skinny *

'What we're reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in June'

'It's rare to read such a wide-ranging collection, especially one this short. Nkweti jumps from genre to genre as if bored with perfecting them, from horror to sci-fi, YA to mythical romance.'

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/30/what-were-reading-writers-and-readers-on-the-books-they-enjoyed-in-june?CMP=twt_books_b-gdnbooks

-- Gurnaik Johal * The Guardian *

'With all these familiar horrors, who in the hell was going to believe in zombies?'-An excerpt from Nana Nkweti's debut Walking on Cowrie Shells

https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2023/02/17/with-all-these-familiar-horrors-who-in-the-hell-was-going-to-believe-in-zombies-read-an-excerpt-from-nana-nkwetis-debut-short-story-collection-walking-on-cowrie-sh/

* The Johannesburg Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9781911648277
Author Nana Nkweti
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint The Indigo Press
Publisher The Indigo Press
Weight(grams) 262g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 16mm