One of the largest book deals of this year has been announced between author Ber Anena and Flatiron Books for her non-fiction book The Lies We Tell for America! 

Announced last month on her Twitter, this six-figure book deal is huge news! The Lies We Tell for America is her second novel, though her works have appeared in anthologies and poetry compilations. Her first novel A Nation in Labor won the  Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa in 2018, and her short stories have been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, in addition to being longlisted for the Short Story Day Africa Prize. 

Born to Acholi parents in the Gulu District of Uganda, Anena grew up during the two-decade war which heavily influenced her early writing. Currently, she is a PhD student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, following her time at Columbia and her work as a journalist. 

Her upcoming novel is a personal narrative of her time at Columbia University during the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic and explores her journey of identity, immigration, and the challenges of receiving a Western education. It is surely going to be an eye-opening experience, alongside being critical of the current American climate–if its title is anything to go by.

 

 

 

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Image via wikipedia