Walking on Cowrie Shells

‘Nkweti’s lyrical linguistic choices aptly charm the tongue and help to deliver a performance, which is fitting for this collection of stories, because they all fizzle across genre and cultural boundaries.’

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdx6Q3IAl7p/?hl=en

-- @taslima * Instagram *

‘I loved Kweti’s nuanced insights.’

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcjKvKCL9dt/?hl=en

-- @barrettbookreviews * Instagram *

‘The world needs more books like this which hold a sharp yet empathetic torch to the Black experience.’

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcIu0CDq0zK/?hl=en

-- @canreadwillread * Instagram *

What to read when 2021 is just around the corner
‘In her powerful, genre-bending debut story collection, Nana Nkweti mixes deft realism with clever inversions of genre.’
https://therumpus.net/2020/12/what-to-read-when-2021-is-just-around-the-corner/

* The Rumpus *

Most Anticipated: The Great First-Half 2021 Book Preview
‘This dazzler of a debut shines a spotlight on lives that bridge the divide between the cultures of Cameroon and America.’
https://themillions.com/2021/01/most-anticipated-the-great-first-half-2021-book-preview.html

* The Millions *

Starred review
‘Boisterous and high-spirited debut stories by a talented new writer.’
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nana-nkweti/walking-on-cowrie-shells/

* Kirkus Reviews *

‘This is a groundbreaking and vital work.’
Starred Review
https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781644450543

* Publisher's Weekly *

May/June 2021 issue

‘A vivacious collection with sentences that sizzle on the page. . . . Nkweti’s book is sharp and gorgeous.’

* Women's Review of Books *

Nana Nkweti’s Walking on Cowrie Shells Offers Diverse and Complex Story-worlds
‘Nkweti’s writing is a gem. Funny and loaded with turns of phrases, it incites chuckles and some laughs but also tears and wonder.’
https://brittlepaper.com/2021/05/nana-nkwetis-walking-on-cowrie-shells-offers-diverse-and-complex-story-worlds/

-- Ainehi Edoro * Brittle Paper *

Exerpt: The Statistician’s Wife
https://www.afreada.com/stories/the-statisticians-wife

* Afreada *

10 Debut Books to Read This June
Everything Nkweti does feels completely refreshing as she twists and turns the expectations of what a short story can be.
https://debutiful.net/2021/06/01/10-debut-books-to-read-this-june/

* Debutiful *

Starred Review: Walking on Cowrie Shells
‘a cluster of 10 dazzling stories that are as diverse as they are vibrant.’
https://bookpage.com/reviews/26294-nana-nkweti-walking-cowrie-shells-fiction#.YJPdiy9Q0UG

-- Matthew jackson * Bookpage *

10 Short Story Collections to Read This Summer: For Short Trips and Taking Sips
‘acrobatic and delightful prose’
https://lithub.com/10-short-story-collections-to-read-this-summer/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit%20Hub%20Daily:%20June%203%2C%202021&utm_term=lithub_master_list

-- Kerri Arsenault * Literary Hub *

20 Best New Books of June 2021
https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/g36518074/best-new-books-june-2021/?utm_campaign=socialflowTWOPR&utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=twitter

* Oprah Daily *

These Stories Dance Deftly Between America And Cameroon
‘WALKING ON COWRIE SHELLS is a terrific read, each story different and varied from the one before. Nkweti has proven herself a bright new star.’
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/07/1003380153/these-stories-dance-deftly-between-america-and-cameroon

-- Martha Anne Toll * NPR *

Briefly Noted
‘Lively and fast-paced, funny and tragic, these stories refuse a singular African experience in favor of a vivid plurality.’
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/14/phase-six-walking-on-cowrie-shells-the-house-of-fragile-things-and-there-plant-eyes

* The New Yorker *

Review: Nana Nkweti’s Tales of Cameroonians at Home and in America

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/09/books/review/walking-on-cowrie-shells-nana-nkweti.html

-- Deesha Philvaw * The New York Times *

Review: Walking on Cowrie Shells by Nana Nkweti

‘The complexity, ambition, variety – it’s a debut collection that sings from the page, story after story.’

https://www.theskinny.co.uk/books/book-reviews/walking-on-cowrie-shells-by-nana-nkweti

-- Heather McDaid * The skinny *

‘What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in June’

‘It’s rare to read such a wide-ranging collection, especially one this short. Nkweti jumps from genre to genre as if bored with perfecting them, from horror to sci-fi, YA to mythical romance.’

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/30/what-were-reading-writers-and-readers-on-the-books-they-enjoyed-in-june?CMP=twt_books_b-gdnbooks

-- Gurnaik Johal * The Guardian *

‘With all these familiar horrors, who in the hell was going to believe in zombies?’—An excerpt from Nana Nkweti’s debut Walking on Cowrie Shells

https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2023/02/17/with-all-these-familiar-horrors-who-in-the-hell-was-going-to-believe-in-zombies-read-an-excerpt-from-nana-nkwetis-debut-short-story-collection-walking-on-cowrie-sh/

* The Johannesburg Revi