Akwaeke Emezi’s Novel, ‘Freshwater’ Is Being Made Into A TV Show

Following the release of their debut novel, Freshwater, Akwaeke Emezi is quickly becoming one of the most celebrated authors of this generation. As if the book’s success wasn’t enough, it’s now been announced that it’s being made into a TV series by FX, the same network that brought us Atlanta.

?some personal news! we’re working on FRESHWATER, the series (from the @FXNetworks execs who brought you @atlantafx)!!! i’ll be writing + executive producing w/the brilliant force that is tamara p. carter ?✨? portraits by the phenom @texasisaiah ??✨https://t.co/cb6jwZBv6O pic.twitter.com/7SyaY5xV9r

— akwaeke emezi (@azemezi) May 22, 2019

Written and executive produced by Emezi, along with Tamara P. Carter (The Leftovers), the series will focus on Ada, a Nigerian student in her final year of college who finds out that she has three spirits living in her subconscious. They eventually take control of her, threatening to ruin her life and sanity.

Freshwater has earned Emezi a lot of well-deserved recognition. Emezi made the longlist for the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction, and was a finalist for the NYPL Young Lions Award, the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction, and the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. 

For their short story, Who is like God, Emezi also won the Commonwealth Regional Short Story Prize. And they’re already working on their debut YA novel, Pet, to drop this September. It is incredible that they get a chance to bring Freshwater to the small screen, and we cannot wait.

(Photo: Akwaeke Emezi/Grove Press)