by Okezie Nwoka
The Boom Boom family forged itself through Brown University: another home away from home. Many blessings to Lauren Leigh Smith, Maura Pavlow, Darnell Fine, Antonia Angress, Amanda Machado, Phil Kaye, Alia Lahlou, Tatianna Gellein, Almaz Dessie, Herma Gebru, Rebecca Burney, Alanna Tisdale, Ama Misa, Ijeoma Njaka, Tosin Fadarey, Jamal Shipman, Sharina Gordon, Michele Baer, Courtney Smith, Malcolm Shanks, Sarah Magaziner, Robert Smith III, Jennifer Anderson, Deepa Galaiya, Adam Kiki-Charles, Teng Yang, Alain Laforest, Jonathon Acosta, Pierre Arreola, Aiyah Josiah-Faeduwor, Chris Cooper, Bryant Estrada, Ross Hegtvedt, Keturah Webster, Michelle Onibukon, Kelly Murgia Sandoval, Daniel Woolridge, Daniel Bernard, Meagan Morse, Isissa Komada-John, Vyvy Trinh, Fatimah Asghar, Crystal Vance, Bradley Toney, Krys Méndez Ramirez, Deidrya Jackson, Jacquelyn Silva, Zeeshan Hussein, Kristin Jordan, Thomas Beauford, Tomás Quiñonez-Riegos, Amie Darboe, Yashua Bhatti, and Sanjay Trehan. Thank you all for your friendship, encouragement, and love. Thank you so much Owen Hill and Justin D. Williams for reading my writing early on and giving me amazing feedback and supportive words. Many thanks to my friend Rocio Bravo, who edited an early draft of this manuscript and who supported me during many trials. I am so grateful for my most beloved friend Natasha Somji, who nurtured me as a writer with amazing writer workshops and words of encouragement. Thank you, Natasha, for being a source of perseverance for me. Thank you to my brother and friend Prab Kumar for being the first person to call me a writer and gifting me the works of Rabindranath Tagore. You mean the world to me Prab. Thank you to Yeshimabeit Milner for lifting me up on those hard days and sharing with me her dreams about what our world can be. I love you Yeshi. To Samira Thomas, who is another writer friend of mine from Brown. Thank you for the positivity and light. You are an absolute star. To my sister and friend Justine Stewart, thank you for always having space to deconstruct capitalism with me and also to celebrate our friendship that has been filled with laughter, prayer, and love. You mean the world to me. And to you my beloved sister Naïka Akpeakorang, thank you for holding my hand through the trials of life. Thank you for being a beautiful and benevolent sister who has consistently had my back. I love you with my heart. Many, many thanks to my beloved sibling Rahil Rojiani, who has been a most incredible sibling that a person could ever ask for. Thank you for always being one call away. Thank you for all the love and support, especially when I was at my most vulnerable. I love you with my heart, Rah. Thank you to Jamila Woods and Franny Choi for convincing me to take Advanced Fiction instead of the Intro. to Fiction course. Your words and friendship have influenced the course of my career. I appreciate and love you both. Many, many thanks to Dean Maria Suarez, Peggy Chang, Phil O’hara, Dean Karen E. Mclaurin, and Ann Marie Ponte. Thank you for your continued love and support of me and my life. I love and appreciate you all. Thank you especially to my home department of Africana Studies. Thank you to the African American Studies Department at Howard University, where I spent a semester; thank you so much Dr. Greg Carr and Dr. Okomfo Ama Boakyewa for introducing me to the work of Yvonne Chireau and the trials of children imprisoned by churches, respectively. This work is indebted to the wondrous minds and the zealous labor of my Brown Africana Studies professors: the late Anani Dzidzienyo, Corey D.B. Walker, Paget Henry, Elmo Terry-Morgan, François Hamlin, Olakunle George, Okey Ndibe, Brenda Marie Osbey, Ruth J. Simmons, and of course the late Professor Chinua Achebe. Thank you also to Professor John Edgar Wideman for taking the time to read a draft of this novel when it was in its infancy.
After Brown I spent time at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and came to meet an incredible group of storytellers. I thank Connie Brothers for being a constant ray of light and for being willing to dance with me every first of the month #payday. I also thank Lan Samantha Chang for taking a chance on me and defending me when I needed it most. Thank you Professor Marilynne Robinson for always making time to speak with me and for being a such a sage to many of us in the workshop. Thank you also to Kate Christensen for being an amazing workshop leader and helping me move forward in my literary career. I appreciate you deeply Kate. Many, many thanks to Alexia Arthurs, Novuyo Tshuma, Avro Chakraborty, and Tom Quach for being amazing friends during my time at Iowa. Thank you Jamie Watkins, Nana Nkewti, Casey Walker, and Ashley Clarke for helping me during a most dire time and for being solid support systems. I appreciate you all so much. Thank you to my amazing friend and colleague Rebekah Frumkin for reading and re-reading drafts of this novel. You are an extraordinary friend and this novel would not be in readers’ hands without you.
Thank you also to my brother and friend Abraham Onche of Christ the King College, Abuja. Who would have thought that writing stories in middle school would lead to writing fiction and poetry as adults. I love you Abe. Thank you to my childhood best friend and brother Jonathan Gebretatios for continuing to support me. I love you Yoni. Thank you also to the many students whom I have had the privilege of teaching in Washington, D.C. Thank you to my students at Stanton Elementary School, Miner Elementary School, Jefferson Academy, and Inspired Teaching Demonstration School. Your enthusiasm for life and learning has made me a better person. Many thanks to my brother and friend Andrew Edghill for always being up for writing and for being encouraging of this novel. I appreciate you so much Drew. And many thanks too to the team at People Animals Love. Much love to Michael Greer, Amit Kapur, Serena Bethala, and Katrina Branch for being amazing co-workers. Thank you especially to Lillian Knudsen for reading this novel when it was a draft and providing me with great feedback. Thank you Lilly. Thank you also to my amazing English teachers Rosemary Latney of Nativity Catholic Academy and Dr. Peggy Dillon of the Hospitality High School of Washington, D.C. Thank you for introducing me to robust literature and for developing in me a love of language. Thank you also to Naomi Szekeres, who gave me a list of the classics to read in high school, which I devoured in months. Thank you Naomi for believing in me. Thank you also to Susie, my local librarian at the Hyattsville branch of the Prince George’s Community Library System, for staying late one evening so that I could print out an early draft of this manuscript. I also want to thank my family at Operation Understanding DC, who taught me the importance of fighting for the most vulnerable in society. Many thanks to Rachel Feldman, Scott Dinsmore, and Raël Nelson James for being our leaders and showing us how to have difficult conversations about race and the -isms. Many thanks also to Bintu Musa, Ngozi Egbuonu, Liane Alves, Emma Hutchinson, Zachary Carroll, Ayaboe Edoh, Maurice Wilkins, Lamika Robinson, Natalie Branche, Daniel Henderson, Elizabeth Mass, Jessica Paley, Sophia Sainteus, Christina Smith, Ryan Wright, Sara Schaffer, as well as to Janell Delaney, Natalie Friedman, James Hall, IV, Zachary Linsky, Gabriel Marwell, Jonathan Nussbaum, Robert Rome, Greg Rosenbaum, Josh Walker, Hamani Wilson, and Alison Wollack. Thank you all for having been great friends to me.
Many thanks to my Express Igbo family for teaching me enough Igbo to write this novel dutifully. Thank you to Nkem Offor, Chukwuma Okeke, Udochi Okeke, Nkiruka Christian, Adaobi Amaechi, Ijeoma Ezeonyebuchi, Oge Ezeokoli, Onyachi Chuku, Stephanie Nwogu, Tobechi Mlemchukwu, Sam Emeka Uwahemo, Oly Ebiringa, Uchenna Akalonu, Ndidiamaka Nwakalor, Uchechi Ukaoma, Uchenna Ofodile, Franklin Amaobi Eneh, Uchenna Emeche, Celeste Iroha, Tochi Ngwagwa, and Aunty Chidi Azikiwe. Also, I came to know more of myself as a writer when I was a member of The Sanctuaries: a non-profit dedicated to the arts, spirituality, and social justice. So much love to my fellow Sanctuarians: Rev. Erik Martinez Resley, Ahmane’ Glover, Priya Natarajan, Adiel Suarez-Murias, Jess Lusty, Jojo Donovan, Ayari Marie Aguayo-Ceribo, Osa Obaseki, Valentina Raman, Jeremy Levine, Chimdi Ihezie, Naika Gabriel, Mahdi Asim, Thalib Razi, Hasan Bhatti, Raymond Barquero, Raven Best, Brittany Koteles, Arvind Venugopal, and Ah-reum Han. Thank you all for the love you have shown me continually. You all are the best of community for me. Thank you also to Pastor George Anazia, Cordelia Nwagbo, and Victor Amadi for your counsel and guidance as I wrote this book. I love you all with all of my heart. Many thanks to Leslie Traub for reading my work very
early in my writing career and supporting me as a budding artist. And many thanks too to my friend Vijay Parameshwaran for all your encouragement and support. Thank you also to my St. Augustine’s family. Thank you to my beloved sister Adaeze Okongwu for always showing me love and cooking the best meals I have encountered. I love you ’deze. Thank you also to my awesome sister Heather Nimley, who always has the best things to say about life and living. Thank you also to my beautiful friend Imani McKenzie, who is an amazing person inside and out and is a great mom to Amayah. I love you Imani. Huge appreciation and gratitude to my brother Christian Mallet, who has been such a huge support to me these past years. I love you Christian! Many thanks also to Lea Harrison, Leslie Yun, Chidiogo “Diogo” Anyigbo, Amaka Nnorom, Emmanuel Bello-Ogunu, Chanda Ikachana, Clara Jimenez, Ann Anosike, Adejoké Babington-Ashaye, Richard Osuagu, Shirley Jean, Fritz Mumbe, Rhett Engleking, Andrew and Rita Marie Larsen, Susannah Luthi, and Stella Chukwu. Thank you for being my amazing brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you for showing the world so much love. Thank you also to John Smith, Angela Wilson-Turnbull, Lydia Curtis, and Brigid McDermott. Thank you all for being amazing lights in our parish; and thank you of course to Fr. Patrick Smith for being an amazing shepherd and guiding our community day in and day out. We love you so much Fr. Pat.
Finally, thank you to Ross Harris, the best literary agent I could have asked for; thank you for understanding the work early on and believing in it. And a world of thanks to my editor Danny Vazquez, who saw exactly what I was doing on the page and encouraged it. Thank you so much Danny for your clarity of vision and for believing in me as an artist. You truly are a dream. Thank you to Janine Barlow, the fantastic copyeditor to this work. Your editorial eye is powerful and I deeply appreciate the love you showed this text. Many thanks to Olivia Dontsov for your editorial contributions to this work. I appreciate you Olivia. Finally, I thank my publishers at Astra House for giving this novel its shelf life. Thank you to Ben Schrank and Alessandra Bastagli for putting this novel out into the world. I am forever grateful for you both.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Okezie Nwọka (he/they) was born and raised in Washington, DC. They are a graduate of Brown University and attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop as a Dean Graduate Research Fellow. They are presently teaching and living in their hometown. God of Mercy is their first novel.
