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The idea of going home is, for many members of the LGBTQ+ community, a complicated one.
Photo: Courtesy of Christina Cooke
Cookes narration, at once poetic and conversational, lends Akuas story a sense of urgency and resonance.
Vogue: What does it feel like to seeBroughtupsyout in the world?
Christina Cooke:Its been an exhilarating yet bewildering couple of months sinceBroughtupsyarrived in the world.
How did you prepare yourself to tell such an intimate story about grief, queerness, and connection?
Do you have any particular habits or rituals you observed to facilitate the writing process?
So when I started writingBroughtupsy, I couldfeelmy main character, Akua.
Thats when the harrowing complexities of navigating grief and queerness and the clashes between cultures entered the story.
To be honest, I wasnt prepared to delve into those waters.
To access those depths, music was the crucial trigger that got me into the right headspace.
I have a playlist that I only listened to while I was writing.
Some of the songs have lyrics; some do not.
You present the idea of home as multifaceted and complex rather than static.
When and where do you feel most at home in the world these days?
Oof, this is such a hard question.
Not a bad question, just a hard one.
Ive lived in eight cities across four countries.
The longest stint was 11 years; the shortest was nine months.
But the too-muchness of the city is precisely why it feels like the perfect container for me.
In the modern parlance, I am too much.
What are some of your favorite books that center on family structure and relationships?
One of my favorite books that touches on these themes is Joy KogawasObasan.
Its a slim novel that follows a Japanese-Canadian family as they navigate internment during World War II.
It is hilarious and insightful and deeply affecting; Lockwoods training as a poet makes the sentences soar.
Do you have a favorite reaction youve gotten to the book?
Im filing this one under books I wish I could have read years ago.
Thats the response I got from a reader who reached out to gush over how much she enjoyedBroughtupsy.
Honestly, hearing how much the book buoyed her meant more to me than any rave review Ive gotten.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.
