Julian Lucas

Criticism

Patrick Chamoiseau’s “Slave Old Man”

A review of the Martinican writer’s novel about an elderly runaway. (The New York Times Book Review)
Patrick Chamoiseau’s “Slave Old Man”

Gogol’s Fake News

An essay on the Russian novelist’s satire “Dead Souls” and its Trumpian resonances. (The New York Times Book Review)
Gogol’s Fake News

Scholastique Mukasonga

An essay about the novelist and memoirist and her portrayal of Rwanda’s history. (“Fatal Beauty,” The New York Review of Books)
Scholastique Mukasonga

Curse Narratives in Four African Novels

A review-essay on Jennifer Makumbi’s “Kintu,” Wayétu Moore’s “She Would Be King,” Leonara Miano’s “Season of the Shadow,” and Scholastique Mukasonga’s “Barefoot Woman,” which appeared on the cover of The New York Times Book Review.
Curse Narratives in Four African Novels

John Keene’s “Counternarratives”

An essay on the writer’s speculative historical fiction as a queer counterpoint to the family saga. (The New York Times Book Review)
John Keene’s “Counternarratives”

The Enthusiast: Derek Walcott

An introduction to the poet’s work with five recommendations. (The New York Times Book Review)
The Enthusiast: Derek Walcott

John Lewis’s “March”

A review of the Civil Rights legend’s graphic memoir co-authored by Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell. (The New York Times Book Review)
John Lewis’s “March”