New York, My Village

Akpan’s satirical debut novel tells the tale of Ekong Udousoro, a Nigerian editor who lands a scholarship at a publishing house in NYC, allowing him to continue his work curating stories of the Biafran War. Ultimately, Ekong’s amusing New York trials and tribulations are a reflection of tribalism everywhere. Despite the racist slights and snobbery he endures, the narrator’s strong sense of culture and community afford him the last laugh.