heads of the colored people by nafissa thompson spires

She creates characters that are three-dimensional and emotionally impact readers. The writing is poetic, and there are no instances of purple prose. The prose in “The Heads of the Colored People” is intoxicating as Thompson-Spires does a beauteous play with words. from Vanderbilt University and an MFA in writing from the University of Illinois. In 2018, she was long-listed for the National Book Award and later won the 2019 Whiting Award. “The Heads of the Colored People” won the Los Angeles Times Art Sidenbaum Award for First Fiction, the PEN Open Book Award, and a Hurston/Wright Award for fiction. “The Heads of the Colored People” was her debut offering to the literary world. Another example, Raina, makes ASMR videos in the story “Whisper to a Scream.” Nafissa Thompson-Spires was born in 1983 and has several accolades to her credit. For instance, Fatima, a protagonist in the stories “Belles Lettres” and “The Subject of Consumption,” is the illegitimate daughter of a doctor that has hyperhidrosis at a young age. The most compelling element of the book is Thompson Spires’ dexterous ability to create a broad range of characters with attributes that make them distinctive and memorable.

The characters in this literary piece are on a mission to discover their contributions to the world. The individual stories are uniquely intertwined and collectively share the common theme of the American dream. Thompson-Spires explores a myriad of society’s blemishes in this short-story collection, including ableism, bullying, and social class. Thoughts on The Heads of the Colored People Review by Marissa Boglin “The Heads of the Colored People” is a necessary read for any person of color. Boldly resisting categorization and easy answers, Nafissa Thompson-Spires is an original and necessary voice in contemporary fiction. Her stories are exquisitely rendered, satirical, and captivating in turn, engaging in the ongoing conversations about race and identity politics, as well as the vulnerability of the black body. Thompson-Spires fearlessly shines a light on the simmering tensions and precariousness of black citizenship. Some are darkly humorous - from two mothers exchanging snide remarks through notes in their kids' backpacks to the young girl contemplating how best to notify her Facebook friends of her impending suicide - while others are devastatingly poignant - a new mother and funeral singer who is driven to madness with grief for the young black boys who have fallen victim to gun violence, or the teen who struggles between her upper-middle-class upbringing and her desire to fully connect with black culture. A stunning new talent in literary fiction, Nafissa Thompson-Spires grapples with black identity and the contemporary middle class in these compelling, boundary-pushing vignettes.Įach captivating story plunges headfirst into the lives of new, utterly original characters.

Heads of the colored people by nafissa thompson spires