Sufiyaan Salam, the winner of the #Merky books new writers' prize, has released his debut novel Wimmy Road Boyz, a cross-genre work that brings Manchester's Curry Mile to vibrant life. The novel focuses on the lives and language of young British men, blending Shakespearean prose with rap lyrics to explore themes of masculinity, violence, and love.
A Novel About a Single Night
The premise of Wimmy Road Boyz is deceptively simple: three young men drive through the Curry Mile in Rusholme, dreaming of an impossible night. The story unfolds over a single evening, following Immy, Khan, and Haris as they navigate skirmishes, side quests, and emotional unravellings. Salam describes the novel as being about masculinity, violence, and love, but also about language—how young British men speak, perform, and fail to articulate what is really going on inside their heads.
Background and Inspiration
Salam grew up in Blackburn, a town he describes as a place where dreams go to die, shaped by racial tensions and deep deprivation. Being brown and Muslim in post-9/11 Britain gave him a sense of otherness and fear. However, his home town also provided a rich mosaic of human life that feeds into his fiction. He studied English literature at Manchester University but initially did not see writing as a viable career.
His journey to publication began with jealousy after attending a friend's book launch in 2022. He wrote a short-story version of Wimmy Road Boyz that came second in the Bristol short story prize, helping him pay rent. He then developed it into a novel and faced rejections from agents before winning the #Merky books prize in 2024 with the first 5,000 words. Stormzy, who founded the imprint, made a surprise appearance at the ceremony.
Cross-Disciplinary Style
Salam's novel is part play, part poem, part rap, featuring an intermission, a chorus, stage directions, and passages that veer into high literary prose before snapping back into slang. He describes the style as a deliberate fusion: wanting it to feel Shakespearean on one level and like a Jay-Z lyric on another. His influences include Trainspotting, La Haine, and Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city.
Language and Authenticity
The novel is written almost entirely in lowercase, a Gen Z signifier, and is maximalist and playful, rife with hyper-niche references. Salam was not concerned about alienating readers, stating that nothing good comes from self-censorship. He compares his approach to Shakespeare or Philip Roth, who used specific cultural slang that readers still understand.
Themes of Masculinity and Identity
The book grapples with mental health, emotional repression, male vulnerability, and queerness. Salam traces the novel's origins to a night out with friends during a period of personal turmoil, when he wanted to talk to a friend but could not. He wondered if everyone else on the night out was feeling the same way but could not express it. He rejects the 'good immigrant' narrative, aiming to show that identity is only one layer among many.
Bridging the Gap
Salam hopes his novel will bridge the gap between literary fiction and young men, who often engage with complex, text-driven art forms like rap lyrics. He wants the novel to feel as immediate and dynamic as music, as freewheeling as a conversation with guys on a night out, and as messy as men are.
Wimmy Road Boyz by Sufiyaan Salam is published by #Merky.
