‘Small Joys’ is the debut novel of Elvin James Mensah which tells the story of a friendship bond that blossoms between two unlikely friends called Harles and Muddy.
Harles is a British-Ghanaian queer man who has a lot on his plate.
He’s dropped out of university. He has a fraught relationship with his father and he’s battling depression.
Muddy is a Mancunian man who moves into a shared house with his friend Chelsea and Harles – his new housemate. Muddy is easy going, loves indie music and is a keen twitcher (a bird watcher).
In part one of this interview, Elvin tells Abena Sɛwaa, the editor of AKADi Magazine what inspired ‘Small Joys’, how the book tackles mental health and explores parental acceptance.
In part two, Elvin share details of his writing process with Abena Sɛwaa. He explains how the Coronation Streets soap inspired one of the characters in the book, and he reveals details of his second novel.
This interview was recorded in December 2023 and produced by KAmo.
'Small Joys' is published by Scribner UK in the UK, Random House in the USA and Plataeditores in Spain.
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