Black Bag
United Kingdom

Black Bag

by Luke Kennard

Identity & Belonging Literary Fiction Psychological Fiction Dark Comedy Satire Campus Fiction 2026

Summary

What happens when an unemployed actor agrees to spend his university lectures zipped inside an oversized black leather bag? Hired by Professor Dr. Blend for an unusual psychological experiment, the nameless protagonist soon discovers that his strange new role has consequences far beyond the classroom. As a professor develops an unexpected fascination with the person hidden inside the bag and his childhood friend sees an opportunity to turn the experiment into a business, anonymity becomes both a refuge and a trap. Surreal, absurdly funny, and unexpectedly tender, Black Bag is a satirical campus novel exploring masculinity, identity, loneliness, and the struggle to connect in a world obsessed with visibility and self-promotion.

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Country
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Europe
About the author
Luke Kennard
Luke Kennard

Luke Kennard is a British poet, novelist, and academic born in Kingston upon Thames in 1981. He is an award-winning writer whose work combines intellectual playfulness, linguistic inventiveness, and dark humour. His poetry collection Notes on the Sonnets, an unconventional response to Shakespeare’s sonnets, won the Forward Prize for Best Collection in 2021. His earlier collection Cain was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize. Kennard’s novels include The Transition and The Answer to Everything, both of which explore contemporary life through surreal situations and sharp social observation. He holds a PhD in English from the University of Exeter and lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Birmingham. His third novel, Black Bag, was published in 2026 and was longlisted for the Booker Prize that year.

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Details
Published
2026
Author
Luke Kennard