Nobody’s Magic is a triptych — three novellas about Black women with albinism from Shreveport, La., who each confront what their families, lovers and friends think they deserve, and say, “Screw that.” Poet, author, educator and Fisk alum Destiny O. Birdsong is the only person who could have written these stories — but not only because she also is a Black woman with albinism from Shreveport. As a poet, Birdsong knows how to choose the best words and put them in the right places. In these stories, she communicates alienation, longing, grief, desperation and, ultimately, self-possession in three distinct, unforgettable voices. I feel such a deep investment in these characters that, months after finishing the book, I find myself thinking, “I wonder what Suzette’s up to,” as if the character drove her car right off the page into her future. That’s the result of Birdsong’s honesty and commitment to her characters.
