Jonathan Escoffery’s hotly anticipated debut is thriving: If I Survive You (MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Sept. 6) was named a National Book Award nominee on Sept. 16, just 10 days after it first graced bookstore shelves. This “sharp and inventive” collection of linked stories, featuring “clever, commanding, and flexible” writing, centers on Trelawny, the American-born son of a Jamaican family who fled Kingston for Miami in the late 1970s. With verve, wit, and heart, Trelawny grapples with what it means to be who he is in the world he inhabits and navigates complex family dynamics—his relationship with his older brother, Delano; a falling-out with his father, Topper. Escoffery extends similar care to his other characters’ perspectives, hopes, and dreams. In a starred review, Kirkus calls If I Survive You “a fine debut that looks at the complexities of cultural identity with humor, savvy, and a rich sense of place.”

If I Survive You appears on our list of the best fiction of 2022; Escoffery answered Kirkus’ questions about the book and his year in writing and reading via email.

What were the particular pleasures of writing from Trelawny’s perspective in If I Survive You?

On one hand, I share some similarities with Trelawny, particularly along the lines of cultural background, so affirming my own experiences on the page felt wonderfully transgressive, since I’d never read about a Jamaican American growing up in Miami and there wasn’t much evidence to suggest I was allowed to write about these characters. On the other hand, Trelawny is hilarious because he’s hyperaware of his place in society and is well poised to point out how absurd certain elements of our society are, even if he feels there’s little he can do to change these things.

I read in another interview that you imagined these characters into being—Trelawny, Topper, Delano—in a story that ultimately didn’t make it into the book. What qualities did a story need to possess to make the cut?

For a story to make the final cut, it had to push the larger storyline forward and help to build out the book’s arc or else deepen our understanding of these characters’ wounds. The “work” a story did could not be redundant. I’d written several flash pieces that provided glimpses into Trelawny’s childhood wounds, but when held up next to the longer stories, I found that the ones that made it into the book revealed what makes Trelawny tick through his decisions and actions.

What was it like to make the transition from being a writer to a published author?

It’s wonderful to accomplish a long-held goal or dream. I’ve come to see the transition less as a kind of graduation and more like being at a different point in a cycle. So many writers daydream about becoming published authors, and authors often wish they could take off their author personas and just get back to being writers again. The writing is where the purest joy resides.

What’s been the best part of having this book out in the world?

The best part has been connecting with readers, especially those who report seeing their lived experiences in the pages of a book for the first time.

Have you been able to do much reading this year? Any 2022 books you particularly admired or enjoyed?

I’ll admit that it’s been one of my most difficult years for reading, given the demands of launching the book, but two favorites this year were Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm by Laura Warrell and Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty.

Megan Labrise is the editor at large and host of Kirkus’ Fully Booked podcast.