Irenosen Okojie, Butterfly Fish

Bethan Evans (The Nottingham Trent University)

Ed. by Jenni Ramone, The Nottingham Trent University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Kerry Myler (Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

First circulation or publication Jun 2016 - Jun 2016

Places

United Kingdom (Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

Butterfly Fish is Irenosen Okojie’s debut novel, published in 2015 by independent publishing house, Jacaranda. The novel won the Betty Trask Award in 2016, the same year that Jacaranda published Okojie’s second book – a collection of short stories called Speak Gigantular. Butterfly Fish largely follows the story of a young photographer based in present day London, Joy, while she mourns the recent death of her mother. Joy develops a mental illness after her mother’s passing which is fuelled by grief, substance-reliance, and loneliness, as well as her abusive boyfriend, Rangi. Delivered in the first-person, neither Joy nor her narrative is able to distinguish between what is real and what …

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1989 words

Citation: Evans, Bethan. "Butterfly Fish". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 January 2021 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38816, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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