‘Small Joys’ is the debut novel of Elvin James Mensah which tells the story of a friendship bond that blossoms between two unlikely friends called Harles and Muddy.
Harles is a British-Ghanaian queer man who has a lot on his plate. He’s dropped out of university. He has a fraught relationship with his father and he’s battling depression.
Muddy is a Mancunian man who moves into a shared house with his friend Chelsea and Harles – his new housemate. Muddy is easy going, loves indie music and is a keen a bird watcher.
In part two, Elvin share details of his writing process with Abena Sɛwaa, the editor of AKADi Magazine, he explains how the Coronation Streets soap inspired one of the characters in the book, and he reveals details of his second novel.
This interview was recorded in December 2023.
'Small Joys' is published by Scribner UK in the UK, Random House in the USA and Plataeditores in Spain.
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The music in this episode is made exclusively for AKADi Magazine by Kyekyeku and the Superopongstarz and is called 'Life No Dey Easy'.
AKADi Magazine is a digital publication connecting Ghanaians in Ghana and the Diaspora, visit us at www.akadimagazine.com and www.msbwrites.co.uk for all your community news.