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A generous gift . . .The author inhabits the perspective of five figures, from Malcolm X to footballer Justin Fashanu, in this lyrical account of their lives, a thrilling affront to the archives that exclude them . . . Each chapter is absorbing, no matter how much you already know about each person * Observer * Mesmerising. A book of creative non-fiction centred on important Black historical figures... Ekow Eshun brings them beautifully, movingly to life * Times Literary Supplement (Books of the Year 2024) * One for the intellectually curious. Eshun mixes biography and imagination to craft essays based on the lives of five Black men from history. Interspersed with thoughts about the author's own experiences as a Black man, the stories cross generations, and form part of a wider narrative about race, culture and historical amnesia * Observer (Books of the Year 2024) * Ekow Eshun is a genius. He holds a torch where institutions have refused to look and helps us all to see through shadows to the magnificent strangers. His writings on the Black aesthetic are unsurpassed – and my world is a better place because he is writing in it. This book will be referenced for years to come -- Lemn Sissay, author of 'My Name is Why' This book is astounding. Told with a rigour and intimacy that only Ekow Eshun could conjure… In a world where Blackness is synonymous with death, The Strangers portrays scenes of beauty, of fullness – of just what it means to be alive' -- Caleb Azumah Nelson, author of 'Open Water' Thrilling and ingenious, propulsive and genre-defying: The Strangers is an outstanding book. Ekow Eshun resurrects five pioneering figures, connecting them thematically to each other while constantly recalibrating the contexts around them, revealing wider global histories, cultures and patterns of power. Compelling and imaginatively expansive, this is something very special – creative non-fiction that inspires, stirs and challenges the reader -- Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize-winning author of 'Girl, Woman, Other' Beautiful, powerful and haunting, this book defies erasure with imagination and integrity -- Afua Hirsch, author of 'Brit(ish)' Staggering. Outside of Baldwin himself, I can’t think of a creative approach to critique that hit me as hard as this. The storytelling, the archival work, the erudition and research behind it, the capacity for invention (down to the use of dialogue), and—one of my favourite aspects of this book—its singular, inventive use of form. It’s rare to read a book that’s so invigorating, intervening with freshness and new clarity in longstanding conversations; and that gives you such a striking new way of describing and seeing your own world. If this doesn’t become a classic, then I don’t know what ever could -- Jason Allen-Paisant, T. S. Eliot Prize-winning author of 'Self-Portrait as Othello' The Strangers is diamantine – multifaceted, sharp and exceptionally bright. I was captivated by its vivid depiction of these five Black lives -- Doireann Ní Ghríofa Wholly unique and important, written with great compassion and intelligence in Ekow Eshun’s singular, arresting style. He says things that need to be said, with a sweeping eye on history and its impact on our present -- Diana Evans, author of 'Ordinary People'

Ekow Eshun is a genius. He holds a torch where institutions have refused to look and helps us all to see through shadows to the magnificent strangers. His writings on the Black aesthetic are unsurpassed – and my world is a better place because he is writing in it. This book will be referenced for years to come -- Lemn Sissay, author of 'My Name is Why' This book is astounding. Told with a rigour and intimacy that only Ekow Eshun could conjure… In a world where Blackness is synonymous with death, The Strangers portrays scenes of beauty, of fullness – of just what it means to be alive' -- Caleb Azumah Nelson, author of 'Open Water' Thrilling and ingenious, propulsive and genre-defying: The Strangers is an outstanding book. Ekow Eshun resurrects five pioneering figures, connecting them thematically to each other while constantly recalibrating the contexts around them, revealing wider global histories, cultures and patterns of power. Compelling and imaginatively expansive, this is something very special – creative non-fiction that inspires, stirs and challenges the reader -- Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize-winning author of 'Girl, Woman, Other' Beautiful, powerful and haunting, this book defies erasure with imagination and integrity -- Afua Hirsch, author of 'Brit(ish)' Staggering. Outside of Baldwin himself, I can’t think of a creative approach to critique that hit me as hard as this. The storytelling, the archival work, the erudition and research behind it, the capacity for invention (down to the use of dialogue), and—one of my favourite aspects of this book—its singular, inventive use of form. It’s rare to read a book that’s so invigorating, intervening with freshness and new clarity in longstanding conversations; and that gives you such a striking new way of describing and seeing your own world. If this doesn’t become a classic, then I don’t know what ever could -- Jason Allen-Paisant, T. S. Eliot Prize-winning author of 'Self-Portrait as Othello' The Strangers is diamantine – multifaceted, sharp and exceptionally bright. I was captivated by its vivid depiction of these five Black lives -- Doireann Ní Ghríofa Wholly unique and important, written with great compassion and intelligence in Ekow Eshun’s singular, arresting style. He says things that need to be said, with a sweeping eye on history and its impact on our present -- Diana Evans, author of 'Ordinary People' A beautifully written, haunting exploration of Black masculinity that pushes the boundaries of genre: part biography, part fiction, part essay, part historical record, woven together seamlessly to produce an original, rich and compelling narrative. It provides a vital insight into the importance of Black contributions to Western culture – contributions that have so often been denied. I can’t praise The Strangers highly enough: its impact remains long after the final pages and it deserves to be widely read -- Jacqueline Roy, author of 'The Fat Lady Sings' This book is life-changing. I want to press it into so many hands -- Noreen Masud, author of 'A Flat Place' Moving, thoughtful, redemptive. The Strangers is an important book. It will become a Black classic. -- Ben Okri, author of 'The Famished Road' Elegant, evocative, moving – I think it’s brilliant. I’ve never read a book like it and I’m wiser for reading it -- Philippa Perry The architecture of this book is extraordinary, the execution exceptional. A work of literary portraiture which is meticulously researched, beautifully expressed and above all moving and evocative. I was educated and enriched to the very last page -- Charlotte Williams, author of 'Sugar and Slate' Unputdownable and fiercely tender - through these five men, five masks, five mirrors, we meet ourselves. This act of docu-poetry should be required reading for all -- Es Devlin, award-winning artist and stage designer

Author Information

Ekow Eshun is a writer, curator and broadcaster. He is author of the memoir Black Gold of the Sun, nominated for the Orwell Prize for its exploration of race and identity, and The Strangers, longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize. Hailed by the Guardian as 'a cultural polymath', he was the first Black editor of a major magazine in the UK and went on to become the first Black director of a leading British arts institution. He has created documentaries for BBC TV and radio and his writing appears in publications including the Guardian, The New York Times and Financial Times. Described by Vogue as 'the most inspired - and inspiring - curator in Britain', Ekow Eshun has curated critically acclaimed exhibitions internationally, working with venues including the Hayward Gallery and National Portrait Gallery in London, as well as museums and galleries in Asia, Africa and the United States. He is Chairman of the Fourth Plinth, overseeing Britain's foremost public art programme. He lives in London.

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