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, exploring themes of masculinity, violence, and love.
A Night on the Curry Mile
The novel unfolds over a single evening on the Curry Mile, a dense artery of Rusholme nightlife. A white BMW carries three young men—Immy, Khan, and Haris—through a series of skirmishes, side quests, and emotional unravellings. Salam describes the premise as deceptively simple: 'three boyz drive and dream of an impossible night on an endless street'.
Background and Inspiration
Salam, 28, grew up in Blackburn, a town he describes as 'a where dreams go to die sort of situation', shaped by racial tensions and deep deprivation. He studied English literature at Manchester University but initially thought writing for a living was out of reach. His journey to publication began with jealousy after attending a friend's book launch in 2022, thinking 'this should be me'. A short-story version came second in the Bristol short story prize, and he later won the #Merky Books prize in 2024 with the first 5,000 words of the novel.
Stormzy, who founded the imprint, made a surprise appearance at the ceremony. Salam recalls little of their encounter except that 'he's way taller than me, so I look very little in the pictures'.
Cross-Disciplinary Style
Wimmy Road Boyz is part play, part poem, part rap, featuring an intermission, a chorus, stage directions, and passages that veer from high literary prose into slang. Salam describes the style as a deliberate fusion: 'I wanted it to feel Shakespearean on one level and then like it's a Jay-Z lyric on another. And I don't see a contradiction between those two things.'
His influences include Trainspotting, La Haine, and Kendrick Lamar's album good kid, m.A.A.d city. He recalls reading James Joyce's Ulysses just before a British-Pakistani rap concert, which inspired him to reinvent the novel form.
Language and Accessibility
Written almost entirely in lowercase, the language is maximalist and playful, rife with hyper-niche references to esoteric internet rabbit-holes and British-Asian youth subculture. Salam was not concerned about alienating readers: 'I realised nothing really good comes from trying to compromise or self-censor. I don't think when Shakespeare was writing Hamlet, he was like, 'man, maybe I should have set this in the UK instead of Denmark'.'
Themes of Masculinity and Identity
The book grapples with mental health, emotional repression, male vulnerability, and queerness. Salam says he was always interested in 'the things you inherit from masculinity – the idea of gender as a performance, which often gets talked about with women and trans people, but less so with men'.
The novel's origins trace back to a night out with friends during a period of personal turmoil. Salam wanted to talk to one of the guys about his feelings but couldn't, leading him to wonder if everyone else was feeling the same way. He rejects the 'good immigrant' narrative, aiming for honesty over respectability.
Race and Current Events
Salam's thinking about identity is shaped by his experience of race in Britain. In 2024, race riots swept across UK cities, and an Islamic cemetery in Blackburn where his grandfather is buried was vandalised. Salam found out via a viral video, calling it 'wild that is happening when you're just trying to live a normal life'.
Engaging Young Male Readers
Salam aims to bridge the gap between literary fiction and young men who may not typically read novels. He notes that many young men engage deeply with complex, text-driven art forms like rap lyrics, which he calls 'basically poetry on a huge scale'. His goal is to create a novel that feels as immediate and dynamic as music, 'as freewheeling as a conversation with guys on a night out would be'.
Wimmy Road Boyz by Sufiyaan Salam is published by #Merky.
