Description
- Pub Date : Feb 2022
- Author : OSMAN YOUSEFZADA
- Publisher : Canongate Books
- Language : English
-
Print length : 314 pages
- Binding Type : Hardback
- Mrp : 799.00
- ISBN : 9781786893529
ABOUT THE BOOK
A beautifully observed and funny book’ Guardian ‘Compelling and
humane’ Sathnam Sanghera
A coming-of-age story set in Birmingham in the 1980s and 1990s, The
Go-Between opens a window into a closed migrant community living in
a red-light district on the wrong side of the tracks.
The adult world is seen through Osman's eyes as a child: his own devout
Pashtun patriarchal community, with its divide between the world of men and
women, living cheek-by-jowl with parallel migrant communities. The orthodox
attend a mosque down the road from the prostitutes and pimps. Children
balance Western school teachings with cultural traditions.
Alternative masculinities compete with strict gender roles, and female
erasure and honour-based violence are committed, even as empowering
female friendships prevail. The stories Osman tells, some fantastical and
humorous, others melancholy and even harrowing, take us from the
Birmingham of Osman's childhood to the banks of the river Kabul and the
river Indus, and, eventually, to the London of his teenage years.
Osman weaves in and out of these worlds, struggling with the dual burdens
of racism and community expectations, as he is forced to realise it is no
longer possible to exist in the spaces in between.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Osman Yousefzada was born in Birmingham to migrant parents who are
illiterate in English and their mother tongue. He is an interdisciplinary artist
and designer who studied at SOAS and Central Saint Martins, and went on to
obtain an MPhil at Cambridge University. He has exhibited at international
institutions including the Whitechapel Gallery, Dhaka Art Summit, V&A and
more. He has been awarded the prestigious BFC New Generation award for
three seasons. The Osman Yousefzada clothing line is worn by celebrities
including Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Lupita Nyong’o, Thandiwe Newton, Gwen
Stefani, Emma Watson, Freida Pinto and many more. He edits The Collective
and has written for Vogue, the Guardian and the Observer.
