Stormzy prize winner on a mission to inspire the next generation

Abaka Debrah, 25, a British Ghanaian living in Essex, is the latest winner of the #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize, with his dystopian novel entry, Where Geezers Call Home.

#Merky Books is an award-winning imprint launched in 2018 by Stormzy and Penguin Random House UK, with the aim of discovering and publishing underrepresented writers and stories.

“It’s been great, just the sheer love from friends, family, the publishing world, people who’ve never met me even outside of the whole Penguin empire”, Abaka told LBC.

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The plot sees the UN take over the British government, enacting “strict and harsh unity laws”, following the protagonist Xavier, in a small town in Essex.

“There's talk of rebellion and dissension in the air, and he doesn't know who he can trust and who he can rely on when people want to rebel”, Abaka said.

He noted that even though it’s a dystopian genre, “it's not too far from things we are seeing now in terms of race relations…I wanted to capture this idea of what it really means to be united but divided at the same time. I think that's what kind of the UK is at times.”

Abaka chose Essex as the setting for his first novel, having lived there for three and a half years.

He told LBC: “I wanted to provide a different lens… I think a lot of the times when we think of the black or the ethnic experience, people often lend their stories to London, which is very fair enough. But I want to provide that alternate kind of view of, ‘what does it mean to be black in Essex?’”

The young creative started out in poetry, but originally "never wanted to be a poet". However, after a mentor told him he’d be good at it, he took to the mic at church, university, and creative festivals, developing his gift.

As I Grow Older, the blog he started after university, was his “catalyst for understanding how words can really have an effect”.

“I’ve just loved being able to put pen to paper and type away”, he said, describing how it paved the way for a “natural progression” from spoken word and poetry to longform content.

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This was Abaka's third application for the prize, with his first attempt being in 2020. He remarks on how in the five years since then, he has “grown so much” in his writing, and realised that “failure is fuel”.

“Rejection isn't rejection. It's redirection”, he told LBC. “It's allowed me to grow.”

“I finished my Master's and my internship. I didn't have a full time job, so I went to work in a warehouse in Essex.

“For me, that was a very low point because I thought, ‘no, there's no way I've got my Master's and my undergrad from what I thought were two great universities’. This is not to look down at anyone that's working in a warehouse, but I didn't want that path for myself. I felt like that was failure to me.

“But I realise now that I thank God for those times, because if I didn't have that experience there wouldn't be a foundation to my book. And I realise that those experiences have helped me grow as a writer.

“That faith and trust in God allows me to drive forward in difficult times. That's why for other people, it may be delusional because you're like, ‘okay, this looks bad, why are you still going?’ But I think, for me, I know Romans 8:28 (a Bible verse) - ‘all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord’”.

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Despite hearing about the lack of uninterrupted time or focus that prevents some people from enjoying reading for leisure, Abaka believes it “is so fundamental in how we see the world and how we understand other people”.

On a personal level, the #Merky Books prize winner “can't remember that many, if any, authors of colour” from his childhood.

“I want to be the author of a book that someone, seven, eight, nine all the way up to sixth form picks up, they flip on the back and see the author and say, ‘wow, that looks like me - they're talking about things I've been through, that I understand”, he said.

Abaka praised the literary works of John Agard, Caleb Azumah Nelson, and Yomi Sode. “They're all great authors and writers, but I think I really want to inspire another generation to also write and read as well”, he said.

Where Geezers Call Home is yet to be released, but in the meantime, Abaka senses the “excitement for the topic line and what it represents”.