In 2019, Derek Owusu's younger brother was, as Derek said, getting into an increasing amount of trouble and rapidly losing interest in his own life. Ever since Derek picked up a D. H. Lawrence story, books have played a central role in Derek's life, and could, he believed, help his brother in his time of need. Each month, Derek decided, he would give his brother a book (fiction, non-fiction or poetry), and pay him £50 to read it. At the end of the month, they would meet and talk about the book - its content, what it said to them both, and what lessons (if any) it offered.

Teaching My Brother to Read is the result: a groundbreaking work of non-fiction, and a unique celebration of the transformative power of literature from one of Britain's brightest literary stars.

Auteur
Owusu, Derek Derek Owusu is a writer, poet and podcaster from north London. He discovered his passion for literature at the age of twenty-three while studying exercise science at university. Unable to afford a change of degree, Derek began reading voraciously and sneaking into English Literature lectures at the University of Manchester. Derek edited and contributed to Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space. That Reminds Me, his first solo work, won the Desmond Elliott Prize 2020.