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{{short description|2021 novel by Caleb Azumah Nelson}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}{{Infobox book|
| name = Open Water
| followed_by =
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = Open Water (novel).png
| caption =
| author = [[Caleb Azumah Nelson]]
| cover_artist =
| country = United Kingdom<br>United States
| language = [[English language|English]]
| series =
| subject =
| genre = [[Romance novel|Romance]]
| publisher = [[Viking Press|Viking Press UK]] (UK)<br> [[Grove Press]] (US)
| release_date =
| english_release_date =
| media_type = Print (hardcover, paperback), ebook, Kindle
| pages = 145 pp
| awards = [[Costa Book Award|Costa]]{{em dash}}[[Costa Book Award for First Novel|First Novel]] <small>(2021)</small><br>[[Betty Trask Award]] <small>(2022)</small><br>[[Somerset Maugham Award]] <small>(2022)</small>
| isbn = 9780241448779
| isbn_note = <br>(UK 1st ed)
| dewey = 823/.92
| congress = PR6114.E57 O64 2021
| oclc = 1154813692
| preceded_by =
| pub_date = 4 February 2021 (UK)<br>13 April 2021 (US)
}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Open Water'' (novel)}}
'''''Open Water''''' is a novel by [[Caleb Azumah Nelson]], published 4 February 2021 by [[Viking Press]], and again in 2022 by [[Penguin Books]].
The novel is written from a [[Narration#Second-person|second person]] point of view, and features a protagonist who remains unnamed throughout.
== Personal background ==
{{Third-party|section|date=January 2022}}
The year before Azumah Nelson began writing ''Open Water'', his godfather, aunt, and three grandparents died.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|
Azumah Nelson continued, "There’s a level of vulnerability which love demands. To ask someone to see you is to ask someone to see all of you and trusting someone with all of you can be difficult. To see all this beauty and rhythm and joy but also to see your uglier parts, your pain, your grief. But it’s wonderful when it does happen, when you are no longer being looked at, but being seen.”<ref name=":3" />
The writer said "he had to make himself vulnerable to write it," much like the poet Morgan Parker says writers sometimes must "[dig] so deep you touch bone."<ref name=":3" /> Azumah Nelson said, "I feel like I did this and then some. It is a joy to write but at times, quite heartbreaking. I guess, I’d love for readers not just to know what I’m saying, but to feel it too. The book is written in the second person so it’s very intimate, and in that way when a question is asked, I’m asking both myself and the reader. When I’m asking, How do you feel? That question comes both ways."<ref name=":3" />
== Release history ==
Originally published 4 February 2021 by [[Viking Press]] in the UK, under the Viking UK imprint of [[Penguin Random House]], it was released in both hardcover and ebook format. Paperback and ebook editions in the US were published 13 April 2021 by [[Grove Press]].
Penguin later reprinted a paperback on 3 February 2022.
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
!Date
!Country
!Language
!Publisher
!Format
!ISBN / Identification
|-
| rowspan="3" |{{SortDate|4 February 2021}}
| rowspan="3" |{{Flag|UK}}
| rowspan="7" |English
|[[Viking Press|Viking Press UK]]
|Hardcover 1st ed.
|{{ISBN|9780241448779}}
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Penguin Random House|Penguin]]
|ebook
|{{ISBN|9780241989470}}
|-
|Kindle
|{{ASIN|B088NRG888}}
|-
| rowspan="3" |{{SortDate|13 April 2021}}
| rowspan="3" |{{Flag|US}}
| rowspan="3" |[[Grove Press]]
|Paperback 1st ed.
|{{ISBN|9780802157942}}
|-
|ebook
|{{ISBN|9780802157959}}
|-
|Kindle
|{{ASIN|B08L9QFG7J}}
|-
|{{SortDate|3 February 2022}}
|{{Flag|UK}}
|[[Penguin Random House|Penguin]]
|Paperback reprint
|{{ISBN|9780241448786}}
|}
=== In translation ===
The novel has been translated into several languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Swedish, Portuguese, Slovenian, Polish, and Chinese.{{Needs citation|date=August 2024}}
== Reception ==
=== Reviews ===
''Open Water'' received starred reviews from ''[[Library Journal]]''<ref>{{cite web|last=Bissell|first=Sally|date=2021-05-01|title=Open Water|url=https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/open-water-1781357
As a debut, the book has been called "truly exceptional,"<ref name=":0" /> "exciting, ambitious,"<ref name=":4" /> "breathtaking,"<ref name=":2" /> and "searing."<ref name=":1" />
''[[Guernica (magazine)|Guernica]]''<nowiki/>'s Mary Wang applauded Azumah Nelson's writing, saying, "''Open Water''
''[[Ploughshares]]''<nowiki/>' Brady Brickner-Wood provided a mixed review, noting that the book is "brimming with brilliant ideas and charming interiority," but it "struggles to temper its lyricism and narrative ambitions, resulting in a captivating if not uneven read."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brickner-Wood|first=Brady|date=2021-04-09|title=Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson|url=https://blog.pshares.org/open-water-by-caleb-azumah-nelson/|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-07|website=Ploughshares|archive-date=2021-05-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507134331/https://blog.pshares.org/open-water-by-caleb-azumah-nelson/}}</ref> Despite criticisms, Brickner-Wood called ''Open Water'' "a moving novel that celebrates Black art and explores generational trauma."
[[Time (magazine)|''TIME'']] named ''Open Water'' one of the best novels of the year,<ref>{{Cite
=== Awards ===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Award
!Category
!Result
!Ref.
|-
|''[[Booklist]]''<nowiki/>'s Best First Novels
|—
|{{Won|Top 10}}
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Seaman |first=Donna |date=2021-11-01 |title=Top 10 First Novels: 2021 |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=9755821 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107150741/https://www.booklistonline.com/ProductInfo.aspx?pid=9755821 |archive-date=2022-01-07 |access-date=2022-01-07 |website=Booklist}}</ref>
|-
|[[Costa Book Awards|Costa Book Award]]
|[[Costa Book Award for First Novel|First Novel]]
|{{Won}}
|<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
|-
|[[Desmond Elliott Prize]]
|—
|{{Nom|Longlisted}}
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blau |first=Jessica Anya |date=2021-04-20 |title=Awards: Desmond Elliott Longlist |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3968 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427005500/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=3968 |archive-date=2021-04-27 |access-date=2022-01-07 |website=Shelf Awareness}}</ref>
|-
|[[Waterstones Book of the Year]]
|—
|{{Sho}}
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nygaard |first=Mads |date=2021-10-29 |title=Awards: Kirkus Winners; Waterstones Book of the Year Shortlist |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4102 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119094807/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=4102 |archive-date=2021-11-19 |access-date=2022-01-07 |website=Shelf Awareness}}</ref>
|-
! rowspan="2" |2022
|[[Betty Trask Award]]
|—
|{{Won}}
|<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=News {{!}} The Society of Authors |url=https://societyofauthors.org/News/News/2022/June/2022-Society-of-Authors-winners |access-date=2022-06-06 |website=societyofauthors.org}}</ref>
|-
|[[Somerset Maugham Award]]
|—
|{{Won}}
|<ref name=":5" />
|-
|}
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[[Category:Viking Press books]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Novels set in London]]
[[Category:Novels set in Dublin (city)]]
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