A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 (Nylon)
A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 (Open Country Mag)
“An absorbing sampler of the literary feast available in Africa’s most widely spoken language, No Edges should leave readers eager to discover more Swahili writers.” —Shailja Patel, author of Migritude
“A literary gem glued together by an intricate alchemy between master and apprentice, with exciting contemporary voices from the East African coast speaking to a global audience. A must read.” —Abdulrahman ‘Abu Amirah’ Ndegwa, Curator, Swahili Lit Fest
Swahili is the future. The first collection of Swahili fiction in English translation, No Edges introduces eight East African writers from Tanzania and Kenya as they share tales of sorcerers, Nairobi junkyards, cross-country bus rides, and spaceships that blast prisoners into eternity. Here we’re encouraged to explore the chaos of life on a crowded Earth, as well as the otherworldly realms lying just beyond our reach. Through language bursting with rhythm and vivid Africanfuturist visions, these writers summon the boundless future into being.
BIO
Lusajo Mwaikenda Israel is a Tanzanian writer who received his degree in fine and performing arts from the Universityof Dar es Salaam. He further pursued his Master’s in Community Development (MCED) at Open Universityof Tanzania and a Post Graduate Diploma in Education at Teofilo Kisanji University. In the 1990s, he was a founding member of Daz Nundaz, a pioneering group of the Bongo Flava and Swahili hip-hop musical genres.
Euphrase Kezilahabi (1944–2020) was a Tanzanian novelist, poet, playwright, and philosopher. Kezilahabi wrote in an everyday Swahili for the masses while simultaneously conveying complex ideas about societal alienation and liberation. Despite not always being accepted by his contemporaries, especially regarding his controversial free-verse poetry, today, as Annmarie Drury states in the foreword to her translation of his poetry, he’s accepted as “a key figure of modernization and democratization, a renovator of the Swahili literary tradition.”
Mwas Mahugu is a Sheng writer and an Afro-hip hop artist who, when not singing, writes, coordinates music events, and manages artists. His Sheng writing was first published by Kwani? in 2005. Later Kwani? featured his work in three more publications. Mwas is also a founding member of Jalada Africa, a pan-African writers collective based in Kenya. As a pioneer Sheng writer, he cofounded Tribe 43—a one-page Sheng magazine featured on People Daily and now in its fifth year. Mwas writes to discover and loves to capture real life street experiences in his writing.
Katama G. C. Mkangi (1944–2004) was a novelist, activist, and sociologist born in southeast Kenya, best known for his three novels, Ukiwa (1975), Mafuta (1984), and Walenisi (1995). He came by his interest in political satire honestly; under the regime of President Daniel arap Moi, Mkangi was held as a political prisoner from 1986–1988 for his association with the underground Mwakenya Movement that agitated for multiparty democracy.
Clara Momanyi is a Kenyan academic, creative writer, and translator who has been teaching Kiswahili literature in Kenyan universities for many years. Her creative works include novels such as Tumaini (Hope), Nakuruto, and Nguu za Jadi (Old summits). Some of her children’s books include Ushindi wa Nakate (Nakate’s Victory), which won the 2015 Text Book Centre Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature; Siku ya Wajinga (Fools’ day); and Pendo Katika Shari (Love in adversity). She has also written several Kiswahili short stories, which have appeared in various Kiswahili short story anthologies. Professor Momanyi has also published numerous academic papers in peer-reviewed journals in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
Fadhy Mtanga, from Tanzania, has published five novels, a poetry collection, and various uncollected short stories. His narratives, featuring people from various walks of life and socioeconomic classes, reflect on and weave together relationship issues, family issues, and matters related to work, power, and authority. Through his use of staccato sentences, introduction of new vocabulary, and subtle incorporation of English words and phrases, Fadhy Mtanga’s writing has contributed significantly to the development of modern Swahili.
Fatma Shafii is a Kiswahili writer from the Kenyan Coast. Her short fiction and poems have appeared in Lolwe, Jalada Africa, and SHIWAKI: an organization she founded that aims to increase institutional support for Kiswahili writing and writers. Other published works include a short story in the anthology Waterbirds on the Lakeshore, a Goethe-Institut anthology of Afro young adult fiction which has been published in French, English, and Kiswahili.
REVIEWS
"This visionary anthology of stories by eight East African writers explores magic realms of dreams and witchcraft along with more quotidian scenes. Shafi’s “The Guest” centers on a young woman who lives with her family in a small village, where her excitement over her lover’s imminent visit is dashed after things don’t go the way she expected. “A Neighbor’s Pot” by Lusajo Mwaikendi Israel chronicles the abduction of a 14-year-old girl by wood sprites, who take her to a village where witches get around on carts pulled by stinking hyenas, throw “crazy parties,” and binge on human flesh. In “Attitudes” by Fadhy Mtanga, a young woman boards a bus in Ipogolo, Tanzania. After catching the eye of a male passenger, she struggles to control her worsening flatulence. The highlight is an excerpt from Katama G.C. Mkangi’s Afrofuturist novel Walenisi, in which a condemned man is launched into space (the book’s title derives from Mkangi’s lovely depiction of outer space as a “universe with no edges”). These varied and wondrous tales are a literary feast." -- Publishers Weekly
"The translators behind No Edges have preserved the unique cadence of every story: each author’s narrative voice is striking and unmistakable. Moreover, the tales all start off with a snippet from the Swahili version, giving the reader a taste of the original. Beautifully translated and rich with interrogations and reminders of our humanity, No Edges is an indispensable read for our increasingly reclusive post-quarantine world.” -- Asymptote
“This innovative, Africanfuturist short story collection presents eight stories translated from Swahili by East African writers from Tanzania and Kenya…fascinating, much-needed.” -- Margaret Kingsbury, Buzzfeed
“I’ve loved the Calico series from Two Lines Press since its inception. The series presents vanguard works of translated literature in vibrant, strikingly designed editions. Each year, they publish two new titles in the Calico series and each is as good, if not better, than the next. Ranging from speculative Chinese fiction to Arabic poetry and more, each book in the series is built around a theme and captures a unique moment in international literature. No Edges is the first collection of Swahili fiction, Africa’s most widely spoken language, in English translation and introduces readers to eight writers from Tanzania and Kenya. ‘Swahili is the future,’ the collection declares, and moments of everyday life in East Africa are mixed with stories of spaceships and sorcerers. There is a pulsing life to this collection.” -- Pierce Alquist, Bookriot
“An absorbing sampler of the literary feast available in Africa's most widely-spoken language, No Edges should leave readers eager to discover more Swahili writers.” -- Shailja Patel, author of Migritude
[P] Two Lines Press / April 11, 2023
0.5" H x 6.9" L x 5.9" W (0.5 lbs) 144 pages