Title – Manchester Happened

Author – Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

Publication – May 23rd, 2019.

Publisher – One World Publications

Genre – Short Story Collection & Ugandan Fiction

An ambitious and assured collection of short stories from the internationally acclaimed author of Kintu

If there’s one thing the characters in Jennifer Makumbi’s stories know, it’s how to field a question.

‘Let me buy you a cup of tea… what are you doing in England?’

‘Do these children of yours speak any Luganda?’

‘Did you know that man Idi Amin?’

But perhaps the most difficult question of all is the one they ask themselves: ‘You mean this is England?’

Told with empathy, humour and compassion, these vibrant, kaleidoscopic stories re-imagine the journey of Ugandans who choose to make England their home. Weaving between Manchester and Kampala, this dazzling, polyphonic collection will captivate anyone who has ever wondered what it means to truly belong.

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Title – Once & Future #1

Author – Amy Rose Capetta & Cori McCarthy

Publication – March 26th, 2019.

Publisher – Rock the Boat

Genre – Science Fiction, Fantasy & Young Adult Fiction

I’ve been chased my whole life. As a fugitive refugee in the territory controlled by the tyrannical Mercer corporation, I’ve always had to hide who I am. Until I found Excalibur.

Now I’m done hiding.

My name is Ari Helix. I have a magic sword, a cranky wizard, and a revolution to start.

When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the newest reincarnation of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries into a teenager, and together they must break the curse that keeps Arthur coming back. Their quest? Defeat the cruel, oppressive government and bring peace and equality to all humankind.

No pressure.

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Title – Ayesha at Last

Author – Uzma Jalaluddin 

Publication – April 4th, 2019.

Publisher – Corvus

Genre – Muslim Romance Fiction

A smart young Muslim Canadian woman navigates the complexities of career, love, and family in this lively homage to a Jane Austen classic. “While it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single Muslim man must be in want of a wife, there’s an even greater truth: To his Indian mother, his own inclinations are of secondary importance.” With that nod to Pride and Prejudice firmly in place, Jalaluddin lays the groundwork for a raucous story that mixes a zany cast of characters with a tightly wound plot.

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Title – A Toast to Life

Author – Juliet Ibrahim

Publication – August 2019.

Publisher – Prestige, Kachifo 

Genre – Memoir

From Liberia to Lebanon, Ivory Coast to Ghana, Juliet Ibrahim survives the upheaval of war across countries, being torn away from the familiar and losing memories. But this is only the beginning of her story.

In A Toast to Life, Juliet is a child with body-esteem issues, a teenager dealing with abuse in silence, a young woman making mistakes in love and an adult finding cause to celebrate life.

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Title – La Bastarda

Author – Trifonia Melibea Obono

Translator – Lawrence Schimel

Publication – August 2018.

Publisher – Modjaji Books

Genre – African LGBT+ Literary Fiction

The first novel by an Equatorial Guinean woman to be translated into English, La Bastarda is the story of the orphaned teen Okomo, who lives under the watchful eye of her grandmother and dreams of finding her father. Forbidden from seeking him out, she enlists the help of other village outcasts: her gay uncle and a gang of “mysterious” girls reveling in their so-called indecency. Drawn into their illicit trysts, Okomo finds herself falling in love with their leader and rebelling against the rigid norms of Fang culture.

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