Turned a Lion Overnight

Ali Hussein Sahal

One of the fine nights as I was in a deep sleep I started going through a long journey of life. It started as I have just found myself excelling with the maximum grade in my school. The people of the whole camp soon started to look for me. Immediately the result was broadcasted.

I was told by my mother not to go out of the room. People filled up our compound like spectators who are eagerly determined to watch a fierce game. Everyone was asking about me, drums were being beaten by some man eagerly waiting to see me.

The other day all the people of the country decided to look for me. The camp was filled up with people. In the compound people were still filling it up. You could not find where to get fresh air, the environment was hot.

The??? sun was now rising. It was chilly and cool. I awoke and found I was poorly lying on my bed.

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  • Jennifer Feeley’s translation of Tongueless, Lau Yee-wa’s thriller sketching Hong Kong’s slide toward linguistic totalitarianism, is forthcoming from Feminist Press.

  • In addition to becoming the Berlin LitFest’s first curator-in-residence, Helon Habila has also just received Kaduna Books and Art Festival’s KabaFest Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrating his "exceptional writing and significant contributions to the development of literature globally."

  • Congratulations to Enah Johnscott, whose film Half Heaven won three awards at the Cameroon International Film Festival—best film, best director, and best cinematographer.

  • We regret the passing, on April 11, 2024, of the distinguished Romanian author and critic Dan Cristea, who served as the editor in chief of the Luceafărul de Dimineață cultural monthly. In addition to being an alum of the 1985 Fall Residency, Cristea received his PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Iowa.

  • Our congratulations to 1986 Fall Residency writer Kwame Dawes, who has been named the new poet laureate of Jamaica.

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