Borderline Fiction
Derek Owusu
Available as Hardback, eBook
A staggering novel exploring masculinity, love and mental health from one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists 2023
FROM GRANTA BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELIST AND WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOT PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2026
‘Glaringly fresh and true’ COURTTIA NEWLAND
‘Full of originality and raw, pure, gutsy talent’ CHRISTIE WATSON
‘Masterful’ TROY ONYANGO
Loneliness means you don’t have to disappoint anyone until you develop the habit of talking to yourself
At nineteen, Marcus is young and in love … again. When his latest crush, Adwoa, starts showing him true affection, Marcus is ready to reconsider his lifestyle – the drugs, the casual encounters. At least for a little while.
Now, before he knows it, Marcus is twenty-five. And history risks repeating itself.
Told through two parallel narratives – one past, one present – Borderline Fiction is a highly original and deeply affecting contemporary tale written with an intensity of emotion and vulnerability. The novel is a close-up, sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes funny examination of what it means to be a young black man navigating today’s world.
Tortured, beautiful, anxious and poetic, Borderline Fiction is a memorable glimpse into the inner world of a young man searching for an authentic way to love and be loved.
“In the hands of a lesser writer, this material could easily have turned into a slick tale of redemption, but instead it feels authentic and recognizable, an unflinching inwards meditation on the forces that shape a particular life”
Damon Galgut
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“The evolution of modern British literature as it lives and breathes belongs to Derek Owusu … With this novel, Owusu doubles down on everything that makes his fiction so exemplary. There are passages that took my breath away. The world, the dialect, the ideas, are all glaringly fresh and true”
Courttia Newland
”Borderline Fiction is that rare thing - a novel which is simultaneously melancholic, wise, tender and funny. A lyrically poignant gift from one of the most exciting young writers working today”
Camilla Grudova
“A rare and compulsive read. Through precise and fearless prose, Owusu’s characters draw you in while keeping you both close, and at arm’s length, in a world so intimate you feel like you’re intruding. Unforgettable”
Candice-carty Williams
“A true masterpiece. With prose that skilfully blends the intricate and the colloquial, Derek Owusu captures the vulnerability, terror, heartache and madness that touches the body when you’re afflicted with that familiar sensation of love”
Jason Okundaye
Derek Owusu
Derek Owusu is an award-winning writer and poet from North London. He has written for the BBC, ITV, Granta, Esquire, GQ and Tate Britain. In 2019, Owusu collated, edited and contributed to SAFE: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space, an anthology exploring the experiences of Black men in Britain. His first novel, That Reminds Me, won the Desmond Elliott Prize for best debut novel published in the UK and Ireland. His novel Losing the Plot was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize and the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2023. The same year, he was selected as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists.