Review Coverage

The Voice
29th October 2001
review by Ezolaagbo Achikeobi

Dark and Lovely

Kenji Jasper is described by some as the new Langston Hughes or Richard Wright. But why is another novel about black men fromthe ghetto getting so much attention?

Twenty-something going on 50, Kenji Jasper is the new kid on the writing block. Fresh out of Morehouse College (think Marcus Garvey, Spike Lee, Samuel L Jackson), this new blood is hot!

His first novel, Dark has sold over 26,000 copies in just three months and has reached the bestseller lists of the Washington Post and LA Times.

'Dark is not just another novel about black men and gehtto life, it is a coming of age story. The theme is redemption, choices that have to be made and where they lead you, dark and light. It's also about past misconceptions about what being a black man is about and what it is like to go beyond the stereotypes.'

Talking to him, you realise that this full-lipped, caramel skinned, locks-wearing brother is on a mission. His name, Kenji, means 'warrior' and it seems like he's living up to it. He smiles agreeably: 'Everything I do has to be done with a purpose. I can't function unless I am fighting a cause and doing something worthwhile for humanity.

'With Dark I have tried my hardest to make a stand for the black male of the '90s and talk about his experiences and life choices and where they lead him, in a more real way.'

With heroes like Langston Hughes, Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston - all writers from the Harlem Renaissance - it is no wonder that Kenji's novel has managed to cross the delicate boundary between pulp fiction and literary classic. But he is anxious to explain that getting a publishing deal was no mean feat. 'I got 100 rejections from publishers before my book got accepted by Broadway Books, Random House. It's unfortunate to say, but the publishing industry seems to be about luck, who you know and timing.'

Was he always going to be a writer? He smiles, 'So my dad says. He says he just took one look at me when I was born and knew that's what I would be.'

Kenji is raring to get his artistic teeth into a new project, and judging by the weatlh and breadth of his talent we can bet on it being another success. Of his immediate plans he says: 'After leaving London I will be going back to the States to start writing a screenplay for Fox Searchlight Pictures.'

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Bizarre
December 2001
review by Cathi Unsworth

Jasper covers similar territory to Tim McLoughlin [Heart of the Old Country], but goes deeper into the badlands. Thai Williams is shattered when he finds his girl in bed with another man. Someone puts a gun in his hand and the other guy winds up dead. Thai's forced to question everything he's learned and find out a lot more about who he really is. Jasper's prose is pure widescreen, fuelled by adrenaline and hauntingly real.

News

Kenji Jasper's second novel, Dakota Grand, has been acquired by Doubleday Books in the States and will probably come out either next Spring or Summer 2002.