Derek Owusu, 37, is a writer and a poet who originally studied exercise science at university before switching to literature. In his debut novel That Reminds Me, which won the 2020 Desmond Elliott prize, he explored his own borderline personality disorder; in 2023 he was included in Granta’s prestigious Best Young Novelists list. He also edited and contributed to Safe: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space. His new book, Borderline Fiction, has just been published by Canongate.

Like many, especially those in the black community, I have been a huge Eddie Murphy fan since Coming to America, since my aunt gave me a VHS, recorded from a Channel 4 showing. For months I sat watching it on repeat, to the point it became a punishment from my mum not to let me watch it. I’ve seen every Eddie film, even the bad ones, and so of course I was excited for Being Eddie. The documentary is full of life. Eddie’s natural humour is comforting, his insights on Hollywood and family honest and charming, and we get what I feel are actual glimpses of Eddie as himself. We’re all so used to seeing him as someone else, always on – and that includes his mother, whom he remembers wondering facetiously what her son actually sounds like.

I was first introduced to Szalay through a guest on the BBC radio show A Good Read. From that I read Spring, which I loved, and have as a favourite to recommend. I started reading Flesh in July and finished on the day it was announced winner of the Booker prize. The pause was because I experienced such intense existential dread while reading it, I had to put it down. This is a good thing. It was a real life on the page. And forced me to experience things with the protagonist that my body had already experienced and hoped to forget.

Over the years I’ve been outspoken about my dislike for Shakespeare, mainly because of how it was taught in school. But I picked up Hamlet last year because I was told many times that it’s the one play I’d like. The insistent voices were right. I re-read the play over and over again, learning certain passages by heart. And so, in February, impulsively, I decided to go to Stratford-upon-Avon and watch Hamlet on stage . The experience was so incredible that I began thinking perhaps this is the only piece of art I’d ever need to engage with again. [The production tours next year.]

The story of Ghost of Yōtei is the standard revenge plot: family were killed by a power-hungry warrior, but somehow one of the children survived and has sworn vengeance. What I think helps Yōtei transcend the cliches of its narrative is how stunning it is to look at, how smooth the gameplay is, how involved the open world is in the main story, and how good the voice acting can be. Riding on horseback through fields of purple lilies and silvergrass, followed by a herd of horses, is almost as immersive as Red Dead Redemption 2.

Very late to the party but I’ve suddenly become obsessed with Lana Del Rey. I came across her while working on a podcast and a listener asked for a book recommendation with the same vibe of Summertime Sadness. So, I listened to the song. And she got me. My friend Jason Okundaye created a playlist for me and I’ve been tapping into her emotions ever since. Honestly, I’m in my early 20s whenever I listen to her and though it’s an age packed with the yearning and pain reflected in the vocals and lyrics of most Del Rey songs, I love being there. She is an excuse to wallow in nostalgia and feel good about it afterwards.