Only a few months ago, my outlook on the creative and art world was bleak. I was in muddy waters with my manuscript that had been on submissions for six months. I turned down a book offer from an editor that I’m pretty sure hadn’t even read the book. I was stressed about the prospect of finding a new agent while trying to finish a new project. Then I went to a residency and left due to all sorts of white toxicity. I boarded my plane back to Ohio, both proud of myself and so conflicted about where I was headed next.
When I was 12 years old and learned to love writing, I could have never imagined freelancing, winning grants, or hustling for paychecks. I couldn’t have imagined my words taking me to my first writing residency in Bengaluru, India, to France and my first boyfriend, and to some of the scarier questions of my life thus far. I couldn’t have imagined finding a home like Tin House for my debut memoir.
My debut memoir, WHEN THEY TELL YOU TO BE GOOD, will be published with Tin House in Fall 2022; edited by Hanif Abdurraqib and praised by Morgan Jerkins, NY-Times Bestselling Author.
‘The Exodus’ is a story that combines so much — sociocultural criticism, religion, and politics while centering on the microcosm of one Jamaican family and the aftermath of two male relatives’ untimely deaths. As you can quite imagine, these subjects can be a challenge for any writer to wield in such a contained space but this one does it so impressively that I had to check and see if it had already been edited and published elsewhere. The story starts, journeys, and ends with a style of prose that commands a tension and doesn’t release you well after the last sentence. I’m looking forward to the trajectory of Shakur’s career if it’s anything like this submission, we are in for a treat for years to come. - Morgan Jerkins
To learn about the process behind the book deal…