A Place That Knows You

An unrequited love story of place, Tiwaladeoluwa Adekunle's collection A Place That Knows You follows the journey of growing up in America as an outsider. Drawing from her own experience of leaving her home country at a young age and coming to America, Adekunle writes about the struggles many foreigners face in America. What uneducated Americans may think of as harmless is not such for foreigners who may experience a multitude of microaggressions that leave them with "the bruise of all the[se] years". Adekunle also examines the dynamic of adolescence. In "I once held in my other hand: ", the reader walks along with the speaker as [the speaker] experiences the trials and tribulations of adolescence. "a non-exhaustive list of pros and cons for loving you" shatters the child-like crush of an immigrant for America as Adekunle highlights the complexities of love for a country in which one does not belong. Faced with the never-ending love triangle between self, one's home country, and America, Adekunle shines a light on the tensions inherent within immigration. This dynamic allows the collection to explore the notions of place, identity, and displacement and offer a discussion of acceptance and education.