The author
From oral lore to gothic fiction
Compe Anansi grew up among the stories told in Caribbean homes, where a folk tale was never finished in one telling. Those voices taught him that the ordinary can turn strange if you look at it long enough. His fiction follows that instinct into the darker intersections of West African and Caribbean storytelling, where omen, memory, and wonder share the same lamplit room.
Honored through literary achievements and published essays on folklore retellings, his work has been recognized for its careful attention to what changes between tellings and what refuses to disappear. Achievements and honours are listed in full on the Publications page.
Reader questions
Frequently asked
Answers to the questions readers ask most often about sources, method, and what comes next.
Where do the stories come from?
The stories grow from Caribbean oral histories, family tellings, and the folklore of West African traditions carried across the Atlantic. Each tale is reshaped with care, and its origins are noted where they are known.
How do you approach folklore ethics?
Traditions are not flattened into a single myth. Each source is treated with respect for its own context, and the work aims to retell rather than exoticize the figures and omens it draws upon.
What is coming next?
New writing begins with an image that will not leave until it finds a story. Works in progress and forthcoming titles are announced on the blog and in the newsletter as drafts take shape.