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Derek Owusu’s That Reminds Me has been announced as the winner of this year’s Desmond Elliott Prize.
It marks the first time a novel from Stormzy’s #Merky Books imprint has won a major literary prize.
Owusu is a writer and podcaster from north London and his debut novel was praised by judges as being a ‘transcendent work of literature’.
As well as the title, Owusu will receive £10,000 in prize money and a tailored year-round platform of support and mentorship from the National Centre for Writing.
Named after the literary agent and publisher, the Desmond Elliott Prize goes to a debut novel written in English and published in the UK and Ireland.
That Reminds Me is a semi-autobiographical, coming-of-age novel of a British-Ghanaian boy called K, whose turbulent childhood is spent passing through foster homes which leaves him battling with neurosis.
This is Owusu’s first book in a two-book deal with #Merky Books and the rights to his second book have already been bought by Idris Elba’s TV production company, Green Door Pictures.
Judging panel chair and previous Desmond Elliott Prize winner Preti Taneja said: “That Reminds Me is written with a rare style that wrings pure beauty from every painful, absurd moment K must face. Despite the terrors around him, this young black man has an instinctive love for the world that burns at the core of the book. The judges and I were as shattered by the truths of the story as we were moved by the talent of its writer.
“Derek Owusu has given us a unique, profound and transcendent work of literature: we want as many readers as possible to discover it – once they do they will return to again and again.”
The book fought off a strong shortlist to be named the winner, including The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré and The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney by Okechukwu Nzelu.
That Reminds Me by Derek Owusu (#Merky Books, £12.99), buy it here.
