Caleb Azumah Nelson is a British-Ghanaian writer and photographer. His 2021 debut novel, '' Open Water'', won the

Costa Book Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

for First Novel.

Personal life

Azumah Nelson grew up in and currently lives in southeast

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

( Bellingham). For the first six years of his life, he lived with his maternal grandmother after she moved to London from Ghana, though she eventually returned to her home country. Although Azumah Nelson hopes to travel more and visit Ghana again, he intends to remain in Bellingham for most of his life. Beyond writing and photography, Azumah Nelson played violin for ten years. Azumah Nelson's dream to become an author began as a teenager. In 2019, after his godfather, aunt, and three of his grandparents died, he quit his job at Apple and began writing full time.

Photography

Azumah Nelson began shooting using a film camera when he was around eighteen years old. He believes his "writing and photography go hand in hand; they both act as sites of honest expression, and encourage me to think about how I see the world, how I move through it, how I love and express that love. When I’m confronted by the blank page, in a way, I’m confronting myself, who I am, all of the nuances which make me. There’s a freedom in affording myself or others this kind of space, to just be themselves, even if that’s for a brief moment." In 2019, Azumah Nelson won the Palm* Photo People's Choice prize and was shortlisted for the Palm* Photo Prize.

Writing

Azumah Nelson's writing has been published in ''Litro'' and ''

The White Review ''The White Review'' is a London-based magazine on literature and the visual arts. It is published in print and online. History ''The White Review'' was founded by editors Benjamin Eastham and Jacques Testard, and released its first issue in ...

.'' His short story ''Pray'' was shortlisted for the

BBC National Short Story Award BBC National Short Story Award is a British literary award for short stories. It was founded in 2005 by the NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) with support from BBC Radio 4 and '' Prospect'' magazine. The winner re ...

(2020). Although he is inspired by many artists, Azumah Nelson has stated that his primary role models are

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith FRSL (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor ...

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye Lynette Yiadom-Boakye (born 1977) is a British painter and writer. She is best known for her portraits of imaginary subjects, or ones derived from found objects, who are painted in muted colours. Her work has contributed to the renaissance in pai ...

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

Barry Jenkins Barry Jenkins (born November 19, 1979) is an American filmmaker. After making his filmmaking debut with the short film ''My Josephine'' (2003), he directed his first feature film '' Medicine for Melancholy'' (2008) for which he received an Inde ...

, and his parents.

''Open Water'' (2021)

Azumah Nelson's debut novel, ''Open Water'', was published on 4 February 2021 by

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquir ...

Short stories

* ''A Little Unsteadily Into Light'' (2022, New Island Books)

References

External links

"We meet Lewisham's breakthrough novelist"
''Catford Chronicle'', February 2021.* Lauren Christensen

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 7 April 2021. * Killian Fox
"On my radar: Caleb Azumah Nelson’s cultural highlights"
''The Guardian'', 12 February 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Azumah Nelson, Caleb Living people 21st-century British short story writers 21st-century British writers 21st-century Ghanaian writers Black British photographers Black British writers British people of Ghanaian descent Writers from London Year of birth unknown Year of birth missing (living people)