Cosmos

Cosmos follows the life a young man recently arrived in Denmark who tries to make sense of being lost. Cosmos came to Europe from Ghana as a boat refugee. Now he works as a bottle collector in Copenhagen to scrape together money to buy a house for his beloved little sister. He uses WhatsApp to write to his family in Ghana: Aunt Dora, Pastor Emanuel and his sister Effie.

In his messages, Cosmos talks about the Crows, the small group of African migrants he has become part of: the twins Femi and Kofi, who upload dance videos on TikTok and dream of a breakthrough, and the slightly older Odofu, who shares his knowledge of everything from dress codes to unwritten Danish rules.

Cosmos writes about sleeping under the open sky in city parks and feeling the cold creeping in along with doubts about his place in the world. And he talks about Elizabeth, whom he meets in one of the city's African hairdressing salons. She opens a new world for Cosmos, and he hesitantly throws himself into love. However, things soon take a worrying turn when Cosmos disappears.

Lucia Odoom has written a deeply moving modern epistolary novel and a powerful tale of global inequality, friendship and love.

"A truly fine debut."

– Politiken

"A powerful story."

– Information

"A wise and poetic novel about longing, community, and love."

– Soundvenue, ★★★★★

"You can’t help but be charmed by this debut … There are many strong candidates for this year’s literary debut awards, but with Cosmos, the competition has undoubtedly become even tougher."

– Kristeligt Dagblad, ★★★★★