Episode 227: Kwame Mbalia

Surprise! We're back! And surprise! We're joined by another author from the stellar Rick Riordan Presents line: Kwame Mbalia, author of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky. What's most incredible about Tristan Strong is not its powerful characters or original storyline (though those are awesome), it's that the book is Mbalia's debut novel! It's truly a staggering achievement. On this episode, we talk about Tristan Strong the book, Tristan Strong the character as an Anansesem, cultural memory, and presenting timeless mythologies to an audience that might not be familiar with them.