West Oakland Book Club X Oakland Public Library
About this Event
This book club meetup is all about good conversation and community. Whether you’ve read every page or just started the book, bring your thoughts, questions, and vibes.
This month, the West Oakland Book Club dives into Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde.
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER
LONGLISTED FOR THE CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE AND THE VCU CABELL FIRST NOVELIST AWARD
“If you read one debut novel in 2022, this should be it.” —Los Angeles Times
In the bustling streets and cloistered homes of Lagos, a cast of vivid characters—some haunted, some defiant—navigate danger, demons, and love in a quest to lead true lives.
As in Nigeria, vagabonds are those whose existence is literally outlawed: the queer, the poor, the displaced, the footloose and rogue spirits. They are those who inhabit transient spaces, who make their paths and move invisibly, who embrace apparitions, old vengeances and alternative realities. Eloghosa Osunde's brave, fiercely inventive novel traces a wild array of characters for whom life itself is a form of resistance: a driver for a debauched politician with the power to command life and death; a legendary fashion designer who gives birth to a grown daughter; a lesbian couple whose tender relationship sheds unexpected light on their experience with underground sex work; a wife and mother who attends a secret spiritual gathering that shifts her world. As their lives intertwine—in bustling markets and underground clubs, churches and hotel rooms—vagabonds are seized and challenged by spirits who command the city's dark energy. Whether running from danger, meeting with secret lovers, finding their identities, or vanquishing their shadowselves, Osunde's characters confront and support one another, before converging for the once-in-a-lifetime gathering that gives the book its unexpectedly joyous conclusion.
Blending unvarnished realism with myth and fantasy, Vagabonds! is a vital work of imagination that takes us deep inside the hearts, minds, and bodies of a people in duress—and in triumph.
About Eloghosa Osunde
Eloghosa Osunde is a maker and artist whose work spans multiple disciplines from text-based art to film, brand consulting to visual art, theatre to creative curation and beyond.
Winner of MoAD's African Literary Award (2023), the Plimpton Prize for Fiction (2021), an ASME Award for Fiction (2022), they are the author of two widely celebrated, critically acclaimed novels: VAGABONDS! published in 2022 by Riverhead Books (US), Fourth Estate (UK), Farafina Books (NG) and translated to Greek by Icaros Babassakis through Dioptra, and NECESSARY FICTION (July 2025) Hailed as an NPR Best Book of the Year, a "cultural earthquake, an atmosphere, a fever, a mirror you can’t look away from," NECESSARY FICTION is published by Riverhead Books (US), Fourth Estate (UK) and Masobe Books (NG); has been spotlighted by over thirty publications including People Magazine, Bustle, Vulture, New York Times, LA Times, New Yorker, Ms Magazine, Guardian, British Vogue, The Atlantic, Guzangs, Amazon Music; earning Eloghosa both a starred review and magazine cover from Publishers Weekly. VAGABONDS! — a New York Times' Editors Choice, New Yorker Best Book of The Year, and an unrelenting bestseller in Nigeria for the three consecutive years since its publication — was a finalist for the Edmund White Prize For Fiction, the Nnomo Awards for Best Novel, the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, a top three finalist for the VCU Capbell Prize; longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize and the Nota Bene Prize; was a NoName Book Club Pick, a Barnes and Noble Discover Pick and a Foyles Book Of The Month. Eloghosa was casting director and creative overseer of both audiobooks. The first was a six-person production directed by Frances Loy and Grammy nominee Ali Muirden, while the most recent features a cast of thirteen actors, recorded in seven cities across three continents. Read more here.
About West Oakland Library
The West Oakland Branch of the Oakland Public Library, established in 1977, serves as a vital resource and gathering place for the West Oakland community. Situated at 1801 Adeline Street, the branch offers a diverse collection of materials, including books, DVDs, CDs, magazines, and newspapers for patrons of all ages. Notably, it houses a dedicated African American collection, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of the neighborhood, as well as smaller collections in Arabic and Spanish, catering to the area's linguistic diversity. The library also features graphic novel collections suitable for all age groups, supporting a wide range of reading interests.
Beyond its collections, the West Oakland Branch provides various amenities to support community engagement and learning. Facilities include accessible bathrooms, computers, copiers, fax machines, meeting rooms, parking, printing services, scanners, and study rooms. The branch hosts a variety of events and programs, such as family storytimes and tenants' rights clinics, fostering a sense of community and providing valuable resources to residents. As part of the Oakland Public Library system, the West Oakland Branch exemplifies a commitment to serving the educational and cultural needs of its patrons.
About Oakland Public Library
The Oakland Public Library is a part of the City of Oakland in California and has been in existence since 1878. They have:
- a Main Library
- Seventeen branch libraries
- The Second Start Adult Literacy Program
- The Tool Lending Library
- The African-American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO).
- The Oakland History Center
They offer a range of additional services for residents of Oakland and California. They get support from the lively Friends of the Library group and the Library Advisory Commission. They also have local Library Friends groups around the city. More at: https://oaklandlibrary.org/
About Sistah Scifi
Started in 2019 by Isis Asare, Sistah Scifi is the first Black-owned bookstore focused on science fiction and fantasy in the United States, as validated by the American Booksellers Association, and has a community of nearly 65K points of contact with engaged readers across the country. The bookstore has been featured in The Seattle Times, KQED, Oprah Magazine, Buzzfeed, USA Today, KTVU, The New York Times, South Seattle Emerald and many more.
Sistah Scifi's mission is to double the number of Black and Indigenous Speculative Fiction authors on the New York Times bestseller list by 2030. Read more here.
Check out Sistah Scifi's bookshop.org page if titles are out of stock at SistahScifi.com.
By attending this Sistah Scifi event, you consent to being photographed or filmed for promotional use. If you prefer not to appear in photos or videos, please let a team member know.
Where is it happening?
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