Book Club / Culture

Michaela Coel is publishing her first ever book, ‘Misfits: a personal manifesto’

michaela coel new book

Looks like Michaela Coel has been working on yet another thing that is likely to destroy us, along with the announcement of said thing, which is that the writer and actor will be releasing a debut book entitled, Misfits: a personal manifesto, which will be published in the United Kingdom and the United States this September.

Making a "compelling case for radical honesty” and “greater transparency,” according to the publisher, the genius behind (and in front of) I May Destroy You and Chewing Gum will recount personal anecdotes from her life and career, and will focus on the ways in which she came to own her strength and creativity. In a deeply moving lecture Coel gave at the 2018 Edinburgh Festival, she spoke about the unique beauty of “misfits” as a social concept, and alluded to the fact that the book will share similar sentiments and themes with her prolific television work.

“The misfit doesn’t climb in pursuit of safety or profit, she climbs to tell stories, she gets off the ladder and onto the swings; swinging back and forth, sometimes aggressively, sometimes standing up on the swing, back and forth, in pursuit of only transparency, observing the changes, but wonders if these changes are taking place within a faulty system,” she said in the lecture.

Ebury Press in the UK has acquired the rights to the book. Marianne Tatepo, commissioning editor of Edbury told The Hollywood Reporter, "Ever since I first watched Chewing Gum, I knew that Michaela was one of a kind. I May Destroy You again proved this to be true, gathering fans everywhere and stealing the hearts of global icons from Adele and Seth Rogen to Barack Obama. By turns inquisitive, devastating, beautiful and hilarious, Michaela’s storytelling forever urges us to think again." She said, going on to describe the book as a piece that "draws on the same kaleidoscope of ideas and emotions as her hit TV shows, and will inspire readers to reflect on their own relationship to power."

Misfits: a personal manifesto will be published in the U.S. by Macmillan imprint Henry Holt, and will debut in both the UK and US on September 7, 2021.

"Michaela Coel is a true artist and I'm thrilled that as her North American publisher Holt will bring readers her bold vision for a path toward fully embracing ourselves," said Retha Powers, editor at large of Henry Holt.

 

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