Events

Derek Owusu is a writer, poet and podcaster from north London. He discovered his passion for literature at the age of twenty-three while studying exercise science at university. Unable to afford a change of degree, Derek began reading voraciously and sneaking into English Literature lectures at the University of Manchester. Derek edited and contributed to Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space. That Reminds Me, his first solo work, won the Desmond Elliott Prize 2020.

A Granta Best Young British Novelist Winner of the Desmond Elliot Prize 2020 (That Reminds Me) A Dylan Thomas Prize shorlistee 2026 (Borderline Fiction)

Jamal, a gifted and introspective young poet, wakes in a quiet, claustrophobic recovery house after a devastating mental breakdown. In this stark yet strangely tender sanctuary, with its watchful nurses, restless corridors and overlooked garden, he encounters several wounded, but radiant souls who are each wrestling with their own invisible storms. As Jamal navigates this suspended world, he begins to observe rather than retreat, finding in the rhythms of shared cigarettes, half-finished

conversations and midnight confessions a hesitant, a flickering sense of belonging.

Tender, intelligent and spiritually inquisitive, The Recovery House is a novel about the music that survives inside us when language falters, about the

redemptive possibilities of friendship, and about the delicate courage required to rebuild a self. As Jamal reckons with love, faith, shame and the

perilous seduction of turning life into art, he is forced to confront the most difficult question of all: how to live honestly in the world without sacrificing

the soul that makes him want to write it.

For fans of Shy by Max Porter, Ootlin by Jenni Fagan, My Name Is Why by Lemn Sissay, Kick The Latch by Katheryn Scanlan, The Outrun by Amy Liptrott,

My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal and Poor by Caleb Femi.

‘I was deeply moved… each vignette feels like a small gift, told in a voice

that will linger with me’ SOPHIE MACKINTOSH

‘I loved this beautiful book’ SARAH BERNSTEIN

‘A compelling and deeply engaging read’ DANIEL LAWRENCE TAYLOR

‘A prescient novel, which captures very powerfully the surreal space and mundane routines of an institution. Owusu has drawn that desolate situation

so poignantly’ SARA BAUME