In this program, Moses Ose Utomi shares his empowering debut novel, Daughters of Oduma. The story follows Dirt, a 16-year-old retired fighter who now spends her days training the younger members of her Fam for their upcoming Bowing tournament. Soon Dirt’s 17th birthday will mark her official womanhood and she will be forced to leave her home and her chosen family behind for an ominous and uncertain future determined for her by the Gods. Her only wish before that fateful day is for her Fam to win the competition and secure new recruits, allowing their currently meager numbers to thrive. At first, it looks like she will get her wish—until an accident occurs and Dirt, out of shape and unprepared to lead, must come out of retirement and compete once more.

Moses’ use of pidgin dialogue, fighting styles inspired by Senegalese wrestling, and artful, fully realized characters make Daughters of Oduma a triumph of world-building. This artful debut is an underdog story for the ages, fierce and full of heart.

This program is part of Pittsburgh Playhouse’s the Parable Path, a series of local events designed to enrich our communal experience with Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower, a musical adaptation of Butler’s groundbreaking Afrofuturist novel created by Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon. Parable Path is created in partnership with The Black Unicorn Library and Archive Project, City of Asylum, Dreams of Hope, Equity |Impact Center, Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books, Hill Dance Academy Theatre, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, and NEXT Pittsburgh.

You can purchase your own copy of Moses’ book, Daughter of Oduma, at City of Asylum Bookstore.

Moses Ose Utomi (he/him)  wrote his first book when he was five. It was a book about warrior bunnies from Mars, and the only copy is owned by his mother. Since then, he has gone on to write many more, slightly better stories. He primarily writes fantasy "but with the plot and pacing of a psychological thriller" and his fiction often grows out of the West African culture and mythology he was raised in as a Nigerian American. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction writing from Sarah Lawrence College, and he has short fiction in various publications. Most notably, he is the author of the young adult fantasy novel Daughters of Oduma and the adult fantasy novella trilogy that begins with The Lies of the Ajungo. He is also a martial arts, karaoke, and obscure sports addict, and he can be found on Twitter, Instagram, and (begrudgingly) TikTok.

A Fierce Debut of Young Adult Afrofuturism with Moses Ose Utomi