RaveHeavy Feather ReviewNana Nkweti is unafraid. Unafraid to interlace myth and reality. Unafraid to embrace the polyphony of voices that tell her stories. Unafraid to breathe life into characters of differing ages, careers, and moral compasses. Nkweti’s debut collection, Walking on Cowrie Shells, captures the experiences of the fearless ... With her dazzling, sonically-driven prose and beautiful structural moves, this collection stands out as both a celebration of the African-American experience and a masterclass in storytelling ... Nkweti’s protagonists are are vivacious, have strong convictions, and are always able to reassert their power by the end of their stories ... Nkweti is skilled in building layered and authentic characters in a handful of pages, characters that can experience the full gamut of emotion and experience, and are never tokens of a singular identity. On a craft level, Nkewti is experimental, bold, and masterful. Not only do these stories play with structure, they also play with genre and form, flitting in and out of realism, horror, and even young adult fiction ... Even when Nkweti explores other genres her polished storytelling and structuring remains, and sometimes shines even brighter than the original brilliant ideas ... These stories speak to the multitude of subjects that fascinate Nkweti, and her storytelling expertise. This collection is more than a summer read, it is the beginning of a long and wonderful career.
