Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Awakened by A.E. Osworth, which will be published by Grand Central Publishing on April 29, 2025. You can pre-order your copy here.
A coven of trans witches battles an evil AI in the magical coming-of-middle-age romp about love, loss, drag shows, and late capitalism.
On a morning much like any other, 30-something queer Brooklynite Wilder makes the miraculous discovery: suddenly, as if by magic, they can understand every language in the world. Dazed and disconnected, Wilder is found and taken in by a small coven of trans witches who have all become Awakened with mystical powers of their own. Quibble, a handsome portal traveler, Artemis, the group’s caretaker and seer, and Mary Margaret, a smart-ass teen with telekinetic powers all work to make the cagey and suspicious Wilder feel comfortable, both within their group and with the knowledge that magic is, in fact, real.
Just as Wilder is finding their footing, a malicious AI threatens to dismantle the delicate balance of the coven and the world as they know it. Newly assembled and tenuously bound, the group scrambles to stay united as they parse the difference between difficult and dangerous, asking themselves continuously: is any consciousness—be it artificial, material, or magical—too dangerous to exist? Awakened is an exhilarating, hilarious and thought-provoking reflection on the ways that we are responsible for creating our own realities , a story of finding community, and a meditation on what it means to have a body (and if it might be far worse never to have had one at all).
Here is the cover, designed by Caitlin Sacks, Illustration by Andreea Dumuta:
Designer Caitlin Sacks: “Awakened is a wildly fun novel about a coven of trans witches who face off against an evil AI. Given the rich variety of themes and elements in this book, I aimed to incorporate as many symbolic icons as possible on the cover. The prominent eyes, for instance, carry a dual meaning. On one hand, they represent the idea of a ‘seer’—someone who possesses strong spiritual intuition. On the other hand, the eyes symbolize the ever-watchful AI, constantly monitoring the witches by infiltrating phones, cameras, and other electronic devices to gain power.
The color palette is inspired by the trans flag, with the pink and blue deliberately evoking a binary contrast. This choice was intentional, as the novel is fundamentally about rejecting that binary. I was particularly drawn to how every main character in this story, including the AI, is trans, and how the narrative beautifully highlights queer identities, the importance of community, and the feeling of connection.”
Author A.E. Osworth: “I squealed out loud in my office when I received this cover in three different colors. I ran door to door showing my colleagues—all of whom are authors, I work at University of British Columbia’s School of Creative Writing—because I was so amped up on the cover and I knew that they’d all cheer on my enthusiasm. And like—maybe I wasn’t supposed to do that and my editor is going to give me a stern talking to now that I’ve said it? I was just so excited. My closest creative friend, Nat Mesnard, once pointed out to me that in every single thing that I write, someone destroys a cell phone. When I saw a cracked cell screen front and center, it felt like the cover designer and the illustrator really got something, not just about Awakened, but about my body of work. About my simultaneous love of and criticism of the role of technology in our daily lives. Furthermore, the cover just felt—trans. Awakened is a trans book for trans people. Don’t get me wrong, everyone else can enjoy it too—it’s still going to be a fun book about magic no matter who you are. But when it comes to who I center as my audience, I center me and mine. The texture and bright colors feel akin to what I’m doing with the prose, who it’s for, what we like. I want a giant print of this cover on my wall and not just because I am proud of this book; I want one because this cover feels like it’s for me. And if you’re one of us (whatever ‘us’ means to you—trans, witch, a lover of magic and what it means to be a human)? I hope it feels like it’s for you, too.”