Brandon Taylor for Minor Black Figures

Brandon Taylor is the author of the novels The Late Americans and Real Life, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, and named a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice.

His collection Filthy Animals, a US bestseller, was awarded the Story Prize and shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. His criticism has been published in the New York Times, the London Review of Books and in his newsletter, Sweater Weather.

Brandon joins us for Minor Black Figures, one of the most highly anticipated books of the year.

A painter. A priest. One hot New York summer.

'A genuinely swoony summer romance' New York Times
'Brilliant' Raven Leilani
'Stunning' Observer

Wyeth is a newcomer to New York, a young Black painter who is trying to find his place in the contemporary Manhattan art scene. He shares a studio with his friends and earns money working for a gallery and an art restorer but he's struggling with his portrait painting, unable to truly capture the life of his subjects.

Then he meets Keating, a white former priest struggling with his faith. The two men seemingly have nothing in common, and yet Keating shows Wyeth how to see the world anew. But as the men grow closer, the differences between them become more stark, until Wyeth and Keating must decide what they are willing to risk - for art and for love.

'One of the most perfect books I've ever read' NPR

'A piercing, precise, and affecting tale of young love and high art' Kirkus

'One of the most accomplished, important novelists of his generation' Guardian

'Brandon Taylor is without a doubt our laureate of hyper-intelligent yearning - nobody does it better' Lit Hub