dreams at dawn, reissued

7/22/2012

good news this week: a short story of mine, called uncle james, was published in the newly reissued dreams at dawn--an anthology of short stories from the fidelity bank international creative writing workshop. check out the excerpt below.

there hasn't been much buzz on the release, no doubt because it went unpublicized. with port harcourt being selected unesco's world book capital 2014, i hope all nigerian writers, readers, and publishers really start stepping up and using the opportunity to officially bring back the book. -- AL.

"Her mother clung desperately, as though she would collapse if she let go of him. And when her head fell backwards into the moonlight, Dara saw a look of pure joy—just like that first night when she and Uncle James sat laughing over that old photo album.

She wanted to cry out, to pry this man’s hands off of her mother, but her legs turned to lead as the world imploded on the three of them--Dara, crouched on the stairs, while her mother and Uncle James, standing against the basement wall, became one shadowy, bulbous figure.

She felt a mounting shame at having seen her mother this way—the buttons of her nightgown undone, breasts jiggling. And because she could neither speak nor confront them, Dara crept silently back upstairs where she knelt over the toilet retching for an hour, though nothing but saliva came up."
--excerpt from "Uncle James," by Iquo B. Essien

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