BOM BOY

197pp., paperback, Reprint, Cape Town, (2011) 2022

Winner of the 2012 South African Literary Award for First-Time Published Author.

Yemande Omotoso's debut novel about a troubled boy living in Cape Town who "develops strange habits of stalking people, stealing small objects and going from doctor to doctor in search of companionship rather than cure."

"In this intricate and evocative novel about loss and separation, every character, exchange, sentiment, and locale are rendered with due precision. Yewande Omotoso is a remarkably perceptive writer.” Sefi Atta, author of Everything Good Will Come

“How did Yewande Omotoso pack so much in such a slender book? Bom Boy is a remarkable exploration of history and identity, love and loss. Omotoso’s writing is honest, passionate, and compelling.” Chika Ungiwe, author On Black Sisters Street and The Black Messiah

Yewande Omotoso was born in Barbados, grew up in Nigeria and moved to South Africa in 1992. She won the Africa Centre’s Artists in Residency Programme in 2014. She is the author of the novels The Woman Next Door (2016) and An Unusual Grief (2021). She lives in Johannesburg.