A Reading List to Understand the Movie Sinners—Plus More BIPOC Lit News

A Canadian writer wins a $150,000 literary prize, Japanese American art during WWII imprisonment, AAPI books to read this month, and more

Erica Ezeifedi May 5, 2025

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Erica Ezeifedi

Associate Editor

Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside of work, much of her free time is spent looking for her next great read and planning her next snack. Find her on Twitter at @Erica_Eze_.

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It’s been a little while since I did a compilation of interesting BIPOC lit and lit adjacent news. For this week’s iteration, I’m sharing a dope list of books, documentaries, and other projects that give a lot of context to Ryan Coogler’s record-breaking hit Sinners, a Canadian poet-turned-author who won a big (cash) award, a Japanese American art during WWII imprisonment exhibit, and more.

Sinners – A Reading and Resource List

I’m currently writing my own list of books to read if you liked the current sensation that is Sinners, and came across this fab resource by Trey Walk. When I write lists that are centered around a particular theme, I always try to check to make sure I’m not repeating what others have already said, hence my coming across this list.

What I like about Walk’s compilation is how it compartmentalizes different major aspects of the movie and gives reading recommendations to better understand the historical significance of each thing. Under “BLUES MUSIC AND THE JOOK JOINT,” he recommends a photography project; under “THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA,” Cotton and Race in the Making of America: the Human Costs of Economic Power by Gene Dattel; under “BLACK RELIGION – HOODOO AND CHRISTIANITY,” Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston; and under “RACE, IDENTITY, AND HISTORY,” How the Irish Became White by Noel Ignatiev; among other things.

For the full list, check out his Substack post.

Canisia Lubrin wins $150K Carol Shields literary prize

Canadian poet Canisia Lubrin has won this year’s Carol Shields Prize for Fiction—which awards women and nonbinary writers in the US and Canada—as well as the $150,000 that comes with it (whew).

Her winning work was her 2024 debut fiction release, Code Noir, a short story collection of 59 stories that examine topics like Louis XIV’s “Black Code”—which established the rules of slavery in France and its colonies.

The prize’s judges said, “The stories invite you to immerse yourself in both the real and the speculative, in the intimate and in sweeping moments of history. Riffing on the Napoleonic decree, Lubrin retunes the legacies of slavery, colonialism and violence.”

For more on the award, visit NPR.

Exhibition of Japanese American Artists’ work before, during, and after being imprisoned during WWII

While this exhibition is not explicitly about literature, it offers insight into how Asian American creatives were affected by the US government’s decision to imprison them during WWII.

The exhibit—”Pictures of Belonging: Miki Hayakawa, Hisako Hibi, and Miné Okubo”—is on display in the Smithsonian American Art Museum in DC. In addition to carving out space for us to consider different aspects of Japanese imprisonment, the exhibit also seeks to give the three women artists their flowers for their great contributions to 20th-century American art.

To learn more about the exhibit, visit the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Boston Public Library’s 2025 list of Asian and Pacific Islander Books for children, teens, and adults to read this AAPI Heritage Month

The Boston Public Library is one of the largest in the US, and they have already graced us with a fab list of books to read that are by and about Asians and Pacific Islanders this AAPI Month and beyond.

It includes everything from rom-coms to mysteries to cookbooks and more (a few on my list are: A Very Asian Guide to Malaysian and Singaporean Food by Shuli de la Fuente-Lau, illustrated by Ann Jaafar, The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration, edited by Frank Abe and Floyd Cheung, and The Invention of the Darling: Poems by Li-Young Lee).