The Half-God of Rainfall

From the award-winning poet and playwright behind Barber Shop Chronicles, The Half-God of Rainfall is an epic story and a lyrical exploration of pride, power and female revenge.

There is something about Demi. When this boy is angry, rain clouds gather. When he cries, rivers burst their banks and the first time he takes a shot on a basketball court, the deities of the land take note.

His mother, Modupe, looks on with a mixture of pride and worry. From close encounters, she knows Gods often act like men: the same fragile egos, the same unpredictable fury and the same sense of entitlement to the bodies of mortals.

She will sacrifice everything to protect her son, but she knows the Gods will one day tire of sports fans, their fickle allegiances and misdirected prayers. When that moment comes, it won’t matter how special he is. Only the women in Demi’s life, the mothers, daughters and Goddesses, will stand between him and a lightning bolt.

THEATRE PRODUCTION: Published to coincide with the Kiln theatre’s production of The Half-God of Rainfall – so there will be plenty of opportunity for sales and publicity cross-fertilisation.

A STAR ON THE RISE: Inua’s profile is growing every day. In the past few years he has been commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre, Tate Modern, Louis Vuitton, Chris Ofili, BBC Radio & Television. Following on from The Barber Shop Chronicles at the National Theatre, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He has been profiled in the Guardian and was a contributor to the bestselling The Good Immigrant anthology.

A STRONG SALES RECORD: Inua’s previous poetry collections have sold well. Both Candy Coated Unicorns and Converse All Stars and Thirteen Fairy Negro Tales sold over 2000 copies each.

Competition: Barber Shop Chronicles;The Vanishing Half;The Mothers;Queenie;Such a Fun Age;Ren Dang;Shine, Darling;My Darling From Lions;Poems for a Pandemic;Poems of the Decade;Milk and Honey;How to Be an Antiracist. Ella Frears;Will Harris;Rachel Long;Rachael Allen;Rupi Kaur;Charlie Cox;Claudia Rankine