Eloghosa Osunde and the cover of ‘Necessary Fiction’.Photo:Saba Kingsley; Riverhead Books
Saba Kingsley; Riverhead Books
Riverhead Books
“My work always does its work on me before turning to face the world,” Osunde tells PEOPLE. “I wrote this specific book as a way of answering heavy questions I’d been carrying in my body for years. Fleshed out from my widely loved and award-winning short story ‘Good Boy,’Necessary Fictionsweeps the lives of the protagonist and his chosen family. It’s a book of courage and possibility; a kind of talisman for anyone who touches it.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Osunde’s debut novel,Vagabonds!, was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the VCU Cabbell First Novelist Award. The author also says that their latest novel’s subject matter is personal for them as well.
Eloghosa Osunde.Saba Kingsley
Saba Kingsley
“I am someone who knows for a fact, from experience, that it is possible to make a world to fit into,” Osunde says. “If you are part of a planet or nation or family or culture that does not encourage truthful being, it is possible to find other shapes for words like, ‘belonging, ‘authority,’ ‘tribe,’ ‘success’ and ‘respect.’ What does that process look like? These are questions everyone I know is asking themselves right now. This work has some answers.”
“The roads to freedom and sturdy love may be difficult, but we are not helpless, or done,” the author adds. “Necessary Fictionis staunch in that belief, and that’s why I know it is an enduring story, applicable to every time.”Necessary Fictionwill be published on July 22, 2025 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.
source: people.com
