Prayer

by Caleb Azumah Nelson

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

15 pages, Hardcover

About the author

Caleb Azumah Nelson is a British-Ghanaian writer and photographer living in south-east London. His writing has been published in Litro. He was recently shortlisted for the Palm Photo Prize and the BBC National Short Story Prize 2020, and won the People's Choice prize. Open Water is his debut novel.

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Open Water, the writing style is poetic and he captures the love and tenderness in the relationship of the two brothers so well

Here is a link to the short story : https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00...

[Nour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pray we know what we do with this anger

[Martina Gjomemo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories that hit you right in the heart are the best.

[yves · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The focus is always on Cain killing his brother, and then Cain being killed by this same stone. But i'm sitting there today, thinking, who put the stone in his hand in the first place? I don't think we were born violent."

only a powerful writer such as caleb azumah nelson can make me feel so much in a span of a few pages. there's always something so poignant and heartbreaking about how tenderly he writes.

[liv (≧▽≦) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 only because it was a short story and you could definitely tell it was the precursor to Open Water (which is written in a similar style but also wayyyy better). I like to see the growth in writing from an authors older works to their newer ones though! And if you want a taste for Nelson's writing style, its a must read!

[Hannah Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Encapsulating.

[Ife · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

We're the wrong age, too young to be adults, too old to be children, but stuck in bodies which implicated us both ways

Pray is the story of two Black teenage boys whose parents have passed away. It deals with similar themes as Open Water, Nelson's debut, discussing Black male belonging in a world that wasn't "built with us in mind", Black men in love and loss. It also has Nelson's distinctive poetic style which I preferred here as it seemed more grounded. Obviously it's a short story, but I really wanted more and I love the exploration of vulnerability here as well.

[Pree · Rating 4 out of 5]

“But, I’ve been thinking. Who put the stone in his hand? I don’t think we were born violent.”

Beautiful (very very short) story on family and grief and minority identities. Listened to the audiobook.

[Kareena | kareenbeanreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We're the wrong age, too young to be adults, too old to be children, but stuck in bodies which implicated us both ways."

"We were an ocean that we had chosen to jump into, rather than being thrown overboard."

A beautifully written short story following two brothers after their parents passing. The themes of this short story are very similar to the author's debut novel Open Water - rooted in black culture highlighting music, art, food, and the intricacies of being a black man in the world.

[Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this warm and devastating short story, very especially the hymn-like introductory passage.

My only complaint is that I'd have liked to have spent longer with the two young men at the heart of it.

[Hetta · Rating 5 out of 5]

💔💔💔

[indecis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hauntingly beautiful and just as devastating.

[Natalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Aastha Pathak · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - poetic & the exploration of age, freedom and racism is powerful

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

[W]

The world we frequented wasn’t built with us in mind.

[Nat · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Meilin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author does this thing where he is able to change you with only words and a moment of your time, and I think it's the most wonderful thing.

[hannah carberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

so beautiful