“For many of us, our very existence is taboo and deviant under white supremacy, so I tend to push and stretch into that”
BY NIC CROSARA
Despite being an avid reader, it’s quite rare for me to read multiple novels by one author. There is simply not enough time in the day and I delight in reading lots of different voices. But with Akwaeke Emezi, I read everything they publish. Not only are they one of the most prolific authors of our time, but they have also explored a range of genres, all featuring Black LGBTQIA+ representation in some way.
Every time I read something new by the celebrated author, I find myself spellbound in a whole new way. And their latest offering, Son Of The Morning, is no different. I’m a lover of forbidden romances in fiction and so I knew I would love this book which serves up the literal devil as a love interest. But less than 40 pages in and there was a very steamy sex scene that made me realise that I am no longer a champion of the slow burn trope.
DIVA: I loved reading Son Of The Morning. Do you plan to continue writing in this genre?
Akwaeke: It’s not my first, or last, time writing romance, but it is my first time incorporating speculative elements, so I’d say the challenge was keeping the story grounded in this world while still retaining the magic that comes with the fantasy element. Overall, my books are veering away from literary fiction and towards speculative fiction, so there will definitely be more fantasy coming from me.
A lot of your books explore the binary between person and monster. Why are you interested in this topic?
It’s more of a spectrum than a binary, or perhaps it’s all mixed up together, which is kind of the point. Can’t a monster be a person? Can’t a person be a monster? Where do we draw the line? If we decide on one and eliminate the possibility of the other, what damage does that do? I examined this a lot in my debut YA novel, Pet, and it probably tracks through a lot of my other work as well. I think it’s relevant to the world we live in and that it’s an important concept to grapple with when it comes to liberatory struggles.
You often explore taboo or stigmatised relationships in your books. Is this intentional, or does it happen naturally?
I’d say it’s both. For many of us, our very existence is taboo and deviant under white supremacy, so I tend to push and stretch into that. In Son Of The Morning, for example, it’s a love story featuring the devil himself, and in ways that could be easily considered blasphemous. But by pushing at that, it also pushes on what we’ve been taught by the church about the nature of evil and the role of Lucifer. He’s positioned as separate and opposite to God, but he technically works for God by managing hell. I’m interested in what comes up for readers when they encounter the deviance in my work, what questions it provokes, and what preconceptions it challenges.
I love how you refuse to be boxed into one genre within publishing. Has it been hard to advocate for yourself within the industry as someone wanting to not be limited by genre?
The Wylie Agency represents me and they’ve done a phenomenal job of shepherding my career through six genres so far, which I’m very grateful for. I think it’s given me a measure of career stability that I might not have had otherwise – I get to debut in new genres over and over, engaging with a new set of readers, and my hope is that eventually there will be a little something for everyone in my body of work, regardless of what the reader is into. There’s been some disappointment as I moved into genre and commercial fiction from readers who prefer literary fiction, but then there’s also been a lot of delight from readers who love those other genres as much as I do. It’s all a journey and I’m happy to keep moving through all the genres – it makes me happy and in the end,
I write for myself first.
Are you currently working on anything else you can tell us about?
I’m actually in edits for my debut adult fantasy that’s coming out next year from Harper Voyager. I can’t tell you much more than that, but I will say it’s the longest book I’ve ever written! The manuscript is currently at around 165,000 words, which is blowing my mind.
Son Of The Morning by Akwaeke Emezi is out now in hardback, published by Renegade, £16.99
This interview was first published in DIVA’s October/November 2025 issue.
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