Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Common Reads
0 0
Download high-resolution image

A Siege of Owls

A Novel

Author Uchenna Awoke
Ebook
Catapult
On sale May 12, 2026 | 320 Pages | 9781646223343
Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

See Additional Formats
An urgent and unforgettable work of magical realism following a young man coming of age in rural West Africa as he bears witness to the violence, upheaval, and hope in a rapidly changing society

After touching a forbidden leaf that his father warns will trap him in astral planes, young Ekwe embarks on a journey across West Africa and back to his own village, where his twelve-year-old sister is being pressured to marry a wealthy adult suitor. Ekwe becomes obsessed with how much their lives would improve if she married this man, but Oyibo, stubborn and proud, resists the path that is laid out for her.

A Siege of Owls does not shy away from tragedy, yet the prose’s lush lyricism and surprising comedy offer hope and grace in spite of its depiction of social upheaval. A love story takes shape as family and land disintegrate and re-form; characters are rendered fully dimensional while still being executors of violence and power.

In a rich poetic style all his own, Uchenna Awoke sheds light on conflicts of land, an ever-shifting diaspora, and the violence of child marriage.
UCHENNA AWOKE is a writer from Nsukka, Nigeria and the author of The Liquid Eye of a Moon. His short stories have appeared in Transition, Elsewhere, Trestle Ties, Oyster River Pages, Evergreen Review, and other publications. He has received fellowships from MacDowell and the Vermont Studio Center. He is an Artist Protection Fund Fellow and was the inaugural Arkansas International Writer-at-Risk Residency Fellow, currently enrolled at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. He was a 2019 Graywolf African Fiction Prize finalist.
Uchenna Awoke View titles by Uchenna Awoke

About

An urgent and unforgettable work of magical realism following a young man coming of age in rural West Africa as he bears witness to the violence, upheaval, and hope in a rapidly changing society

After touching a forbidden leaf that his father warns will trap him in astral planes, young Ekwe embarks on a journey across West Africa and back to his own village, where his twelve-year-old sister is being pressured to marry a wealthy adult suitor. Ekwe becomes obsessed with how much their lives would improve if she married this man, but Oyibo, stubborn and proud, resists the path that is laid out for her.

A Siege of Owls does not shy away from tragedy, yet the prose’s lush lyricism and surprising comedy offer hope and grace in spite of its depiction of social upheaval. A love story takes shape as family and land disintegrate and re-form; characters are rendered fully dimensional while still being executors of violence and power.

In a rich poetic style all his own, Uchenna Awoke sheds light on conflicts of land, an ever-shifting diaspora, and the violence of child marriage.

Author

UCHENNA AWOKE is a writer from Nsukka, Nigeria and the author of The Liquid Eye of a Moon. His short stories have appeared in Transition, Elsewhere, Trestle Ties, Oyster River Pages, Evergreen Review, and other publications. He has received fellowships from MacDowell and the Vermont Studio Center. He is an Artist Protection Fund Fellow and was the inaugural Arkansas International Writer-at-Risk Residency Fellow, currently enrolled at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. He was a 2019 Graywolf African Fiction Prize finalist.
Uchenna Awoke View titles by Uchenna Awoke

Additional formats

Other Books by this Author

Related Articles

Subscribe

Penguin Random House Higher Education

© 2025 Penguin Random House

Back to Top
0
    • 0
    Wish List (0)