The Year of Return by Ivana Akotowaa Ofori

The Year of Return by Ivana Akotowaa Ofori

THE YEAR OF RETURN is a finalist for the 2025 Nommo Award for Best Novella.

In December 2019, as Ghana's vibrant streets buzz with the climax of the Year of Return, an initiative marking 400 years since the first enslaved Africans were forcibly taken to Virginia, Adwapa, a Ghanaian journalist living in the U.S., decides to journey back to her homeland. Accompanied by friends, she seeks to reconnect with his roots during this historic commemoration, unaware that the trip will lead them into the heart of a mystery that transcends time and reality.

As the celebrations reach their zenith, the Atlantic Ocean, witness to untold horror is of the past, begins to stir with an ancient and restless energy. From its depths emerge the spirits of the enslaved, those who perished in the harrowing Middle Passage, returning not in peace but in turmoil. Their emergence sends shock waves around the globe, transforming the Year of Return into a haunting spectacle of reawakened histories and unresolved grievances.

As the line between the living and the dead blurs, Adwapa finds herself caught in a whirlwind of supernatural events and historical reckonings. With each passing day, the ghosts grow more powerful, their centuries-old sorrows manifesting in a series of chilling, vengeful acts that threaten to unravel the very fabric of the present.