Overview

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 'Vivid and empowering' GILLIAN ANDERSON ‘Heart-stoppingly gripping’ BERNARDINE EVARISTO ‘Dazzling’ TARA WESTOVER ‘A story about hope, imagination and resilience’ GUARDIAN An award-winning, inspiring memoir of family, education and resilience. Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where luxury hotels line pristine white sand beaches, Safiya Sinclair grew up guarding herself against an ever-present threat. Her father, a volatile reggae musician and strict believer in a militant sect of Rastafari, railed against Babylon, the corrupting influence of the immoral Western world just beyond their gate. To protect the purity of the women in their family he forbade almost everything. Her mother did what she could to bring joy to her children with books and poetry. But as Safiya’s imagination reached beyond its restrictive borders, her burgeoning independence brought with it ever greater clashes with her father. Soon she realised that if she was to live at all, she had to find some way to leave home. But how? How to Say Babylon is an unforgettable story of a young woman’s determination to live life on her own terms. ‘I adored this book … Unforgettable’ ELIF SHAFAK ‘Electrifying’ OBSERVER ‘To read it is to believe that words can save’ MARLON JAMES ‘Breathless, scorching’ NEW YORK TIMES

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Reviews

‘A narrative marvel … To read it is to believe that words can save, words can heal, and words can imbue us with near divine power’ Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings ‘One of the most gut-wrenching, soul-stirring, electrifying memoirs I've ever read. It shatters every perception we have about Rastafari and lays bare our post-colonial wounds as Jamaicans with lyrical power, unflinching truth, and grace. A necessary testament filled with rich, poetic detail that haunts and dazzles’ Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Here Comes the Sun 'Her language is distinctive, assured, and a marvel to read' Cathy Park Hong, author of Minor Feelings ‘A poet's memoir, a daughter’s lyric, a love letter, a rebellion, and an incantation … Safiya Sinclair has gorgeously and lovingly assembled a story with radiant transformative power. I couldn’t put it down’ Nadia Osuwu, author of Aftershocks ‘Safiya Sinclair possesses a rare gift: her prose is gorgeous and lush … Every sentence sings … Simply stunning’ Imani Perry, author of South to America ‘Some memoirs grab you by the throat with their truth-is-stranger-than-fiction storylines. Some mesmerize with the power and beauty of the writing. Every once in a while, a book comes along that does both … Beautifully rendered and an incredible story, How to Say Babylon is a tour de force’ Natasha Trethewey, author of Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir ‘Lyrical, startling, and magnetic … Her words sparkle like silver or pour like lava’ Jabari Asim, author of Yonder ‘In dazzling prose … [Sinclair] examines the traumas of her childhood against the backdrop of her new life as a poet in Babylon …. This is a tour de force’ Publishers Weekly

'Her language is distinctive, assured, and a marvel to read' Cathy Park Hong, author of Minor Feelings 'Safiya Sinclair is offering us a new muscular music that is as brutal as it is beautiful ... A poet who is dangerously talented and desperately needed' Ada Limon, Poet Laureate of the United States 'She laces words together in a beautiful tapestry, full of history, life, death and, most of all, renewal' Morgan Jenkins, New York Times 'Sinclair's material interweaves the personal, the historical, and the political with language of stunning originality' Scotsman 'Dazzling ... Her poems shimmer with the rich colours and sounds of her homeland, but running through is a sense of escape and of exile' Daily Mail 'Precise and provocative ... Sinclair writes with a thrilling sensibility of the texture of savageness' New Statesman 'A singularly gifted writer' The Bookseller

‘A narrative marvel … To read it is to believe that words can save, words can heal, and words can imbue us with near divine power’ Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings ‘I absolutely adored this book … Unforgettable, mesmerising, heartbreaking and heartwarming at once, this is one of the best memoirs in world literature’ Elif Shafak, author of The Island of Missing Trees ‘Sinclair's lush, lyrical language makes everything feel alive. Here, words are a thing of beauty and a means of escape’ Raven Leilani, author of Luster ‘Full of courage and poetry … an instant contemporary Caribbean classic. Read this book for its elemental, non-negotiable self; fire and love’ Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch ‘Essential … Sinclair’s devotion to language has been lifelong, and How to Say Babylon is the result’ Jesmyn Ward, author of Sing, Unburied, Sing ‘Gut-wrenching, soul-stirring, electrifying’ Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Here Comes the Sun ‘Immersive, imagistic, honest … A quiet testimony, a loud prayer and a large gift from a gifted Jamaican voice. Give thanks’ Raymond Antrobus, author of All the Names Given ‘Sinclair’s lush, aching family portrait of patriarchy run amok in Jamaica is destined to become a feminist classic’ Lisa Allen-Agostini, author of The Bread the Devil Knead ‘Heart-warming, tender and fierce, one of the best memoirs I've read in a long time’ Lily Dunn, author of Sins of My Father ‘Beautifully rendered and an incredible story … A tour de force’ Natasha Trethewey, author of Memorial Drive ‘A story with radiant transformative power. I couldn’t put it down’ Nadia Osuwu, author of Aftershocks ‘Every sentence sings … Simply stunning’ Imani Perry, author of South to America ‘Dazzling … A tour de force’ Publishers Weekly

Praise for How to Say Babylon: 'How to Say Babylon is a poet's memoir, a daughter's lyric, a love letter, a rebellion, and an incantation. From the material of history and mythology, both personal and political, Safiya Sinclair has gorgeously and lovingly assembled a story with radiant transformative power. I couldn't put it down' Nadia Osuwu, author of Aftershocks 'When a gifted poet applies her hand to prose, magical, even revelatory things can result. Happily, this is the case with Safiya Sinclair of. In this lyrical, startling, and magnetic memoir about growing up Rastafari, she weaves a story rich in unsettling visions that goad and haunt while waves crest and soar in the background, beckoning a young girl toward a mysterious future. Her words sparkle like silver or pour like lava, depending on the need' Jabari Asim, author of Yonder, a NYT Notable Book 2021 Praise for Safiya Sinclair: 'Her language is distinctive, assured, and a marvel to read' Cathy Park Hong, author of Minor Feelings 'Safiya Sinclair is offering us a new muscular music that is as brutal as it is beautiful ... A poet who is dangerously talented and desperately needed' Ada Limon, Poet Laureate of the United States 'She laces words together in a beautiful tapestry, full of history, life, death and, most of all, renewal' Morgan Jenkins, New York Times 'Sinclair's material interweaves the personal, the historical, and the political with language of stunning originality' Scotsman 'Dazzling ... Her poems shimmer with the rich colours and sounds of her homeland, but running through is a sense of escape and of exile' Daily Mail 'Precise and provocative ... Sinclair writes with a thrilling sensibility of the texture of savageness' New Statesman 'A singularly gifted writer' The Bookseller

‘A narrative marvel … To read it is to believe that words can save, words can heal, and words can imbue us with near divine power’ Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings ‘Unforgettable, mesmerising, heartbreaking and heartwarming at once, this is one of the best memoirs in world literature’ Elif Shafak, author of The Island of Missing Trees ‘Sinclair's lush, lyrical language makes everything feel alive. Here, words are a thing of beauty and a means of escape’ Raven Leilani, author of Luster ‘Full of courage and poetry … an instant contemporary Caribbean classic. Read this book for its elemental, non-negotiable self; fire and love’ Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch ‘Atmospheric and completely absorbing, this is a fascinating story lushly told … Captivating’ Diana Evans, author of A House for Alice ‘Essential … Sinclair’s devotion to language has been lifelong, and How to Say Babylon is the result’ Jesmyn Ward, author of Sing, Unburied, Sing ‘Gut-wrenching, soul-stirring, electrifying’ Nicole Dennis-Benn, author of Here Comes the Sun ‘Immersive, imagistic, honest … A quiet testimony, a loud prayer and a large gift from a gifted Jamaican voice’ Raymond Antrobus, author of All the Names Given ‘Destined to become a feminist classic’ Lisa Allen-Agostini, author of The Bread the Devil Knead ‘Heart-warming, tender and fierce, one of the best memoirs I've read in a long time’ Lily Dunn, author of Sins of My Father ‘Beautifully rendered and an incredible story … A tour de force’ Natasha Trethewey, author of Memorial Drive ‘A story with radiant transformative power. I couldn’t put it down’ Nadia Osuwu, author of Aftershocks ‘Every sentence sings … Simply stunning’ Imani Perry, author of South to America ‘Dazzling’ Publishers Weekly

Author Information

Safiya Sinclair was born and raised in Montego Bay, Jamaica. She is the author of Cannibal, winner of a Whiting Writers’ Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Metcalf Award in Literature, the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Poetry, and the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry. Cannibal was selected as one of the American Library Association’s Notable Books of the Year, was a finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award and the Seamus Heaney First Book Award in the UK, and was longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, The Nation, Poetry and elsewhere. She is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Arizona State University.

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