Novels of magical transformations operate on various levels, physical and metaphorical. In Mohsin Hamid’s The Last White Man, assumptions of race and identity are upended as a mysterious contagion turns white citizens brown. In Monique Roffey’s The Mermaid of Black Conch, an Indigenous Caribbean woman is turned into a mermaid—and then back again; while in Ayanna Lloyd Banwo’s When We Were Birds, humans who were once black vultures, or corbeaux, retain a special connection to the spirit world. Moderated by Anderson Tepper, co-chair, Brooklyn Book Festival’s International Committee.
Menu
