Nigerian author E C Osondu has a new novel on the way, and we have some exclusive details on the synopsis and additional publishing deals. It’s been five years since his last major work, This House is Not For Sale, was published, so fans are excited.

There isn’t a lot of information about the book. Osondu shared the Italian cover (pictured above) on Twitter, announcing that Francesco Brioschi is publishing with Gioia Guerzoni as translator. He also revealed that the English title was When the Sky is Ready the Stars Will Appear,

But after a little digging, we can confirm that  Quida has signed the dotted lines for the Nigerian edition, that a Spanish edition is coming out through Editore Empatia, and that the US edition is still in the works.

In an email message, Osondu reveals that “the novel is about migration in this case migration by young Africans who brave the Sahara and the Mediterranean Ocean to get to Europe. The narrator decides on the trip after a cousin of his who lives in Rome visits their village of Gulu Station with tons of goodies. The book follows him on every step of the fraught odyssey.”

While you wait for Osondu’s English edition to come out, read Equatoguinean author and activist Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel Gurugu Pledge, another novel that explores the dangerous land and sea migration routes from Africa to Europe.

Born in Nigeria, Osondu is known for his witty, affecting short stories which have earned him numerous recognition including the 2009 Caine Prize for African Writing. He currently resides in the US where he is a professor of creative writing at Providence College in Rhode Island.

Congrats to Osondu!