No Edges Makes History as the First-Ever Swahili Story Collection Translated into English!

No Edges is the very first collection of Swahili short stories in English translation and readers will not be disappointed by the originality of the stories and the variety of themes represented. Published on April 11 by Two Lines Press, the book was on Brittle Paper’s Most Anticipated Books of 2023 list.

Comprised of multiple authors and translators, No Edges introduces eight East African writers from Tanzania and Kenya. The writers use rhythmic language to depict their vivid Africanfuturist visions of society. In fact, the motto of the collection is “Swahili is the future.”

Edited by Sarah Coolidge, the stories contained include “sorcerers, Nairobi junkyards, cross-country bus rides, and spaceships that blast prisoners into eternity.” While sole tales explore the chaos of life on a crowded Earth, others showcase otherworldly realms lying beyond human reach.

The stories and writers include:

• “The Guest” by Fatma Shafii, a Kiswahili writer from the Kenyan Coast.
• “A Neighbor’s Pot” by Lusajo Mwaikenda Israel, a Tanzanian writer.
• “Timo and Kayole’s Chaos” by Mwas Mahugu, a Sheng writer and an Afro-hip hop artist.
• “from Nakuruto” by Clara Momanyi, a Kenyan academic, creative writer, and translator.
• “Attitudes” by Fadhy Mtanga, a Tanzanian writer.
• “from Walenisi” by Katama G. C. Mkangi (1944–2004), a novelist, activist, and sociologist from southeast Kenya.
• “from Selfishness” by Lilian Mbaga, a Tanzanian writer.
• “from Nagona” by Euphrase Kezilahabi (1944–2020), a Tanzanian novelist, poet, playwright, and philosopher.

Kenyan poet, playwright, and activist Shailja Patel describes the book as 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.”

Out of the eight short stories, my personal favorites are “The Guest” and “from Nakuruto”. Both stories center female protagonists and focus on their interior narratives. “The Guest” features a young woman who wants to introduce her beloved to her mother, but the ending is surprising as it turns out the man is a ghost or a figment of the woman’s imagination.

Meanwhile, “from Nakuruto” is a vivid story about Nakuruto who falls asleep after a hard day of work and dreams that she is flying over the curtains of history, pushed by an unfathomable force. When she finally falls to the ground, the effects of time have turned her into an old woman. Clare Momanyi’s writing is whimsical and poetic, and she is able to depict the motion of flight and time dilation beautifully.

This collection is part of the Calico Series which captures vanguard works of translated literature in collectible editions. Published biannually by Two Lines Press, each Calico offers the voices of previously inaccessible, highly innovative writers from around the world today.