WINNER OF THE POLARI FIRST BOOK PRIZE
A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR
AN AFRICA IS A COUNTRY BOOK OF THE YEAR
NAMED BY THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY AS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL LGBTI PEOPLE IN BRITAIN
NAMED BY DAZED & CONFUSED AS ONE OF THE TOP TEN LGBT WRITERS TO WATCH
NAMED BY OKAY AFRICA AS ONE OF THE TOP TEN SOMALI ARTISTS TO WATCH
NAMED BY THE GUARDIAN AS ONE OF THE TOP TEN REPRESENTATIONS OF LGBT SEX IN LITERATURE
FAIRYTALES FOR LOST CHILDREN is narrated by people constantly on the verge of self-revelation. These characters – young, gay and lesbian Somalis – must navigate the complexities of family, identity and the immigrant experience as they tumble towards freedom. Set in Kenya, Somalia and South London, these stories are imbued with pathos, passion and linguistic playfulness, marking the arrival of a singular new voice in contemporary fiction.
Praise for FAIRYTALES FOR LOST CHILDREN
‘In this taut, feral, sinewy, fearless book, Diriye Osman makes nothing less than a new map of our world, where a new generation make, in the present, the homes of love for the future of us all. These are times of turbulence and confusion, and Africa is making new kinds of people for the world. They live in this collection of short stories.’
—BINYAVANGA WAINAINA
'Fantastic writing. I am most highly impressed. I’ve read some of the stories more than once and saw in each one of them plenty of talent everywhere - in every sinew and vein.’
—NURUDDIN FARAH
‘There is nothing more humbling than good writing except when the author is fiercely beautiful and ferociously generous of heart. That Diriye Osman should possess so much talent is only fair in light of his goodness. Read this book.’
—MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO
‘The characters in these fairy tales are displaced in multiple, complicated ways. But Osman’s storytelling creates a shelter for them; a warm place which is both real and imaginary, in which they find political, sexual, and ultimately psychic liberation.’
—ALISON BECHDEL
'I hope people read Fairytales without tearing up the collage. I hope they make the effort to look at all the pieces at once. I hope they see the deep, painful love for family and community that runs through the book, the way that it is, in some ways, an ode to families inherited and found.’
—SOFIA SAMATAR
‘East Africa. South London. Queer. Displaced. Mentally ill. My excitement over Osman and his writing comes, in part, out of delight at the impossibility of categorization.’
—ELLAH ALLFREY, The Telegraph
‘At a time when homosexuality is still illegal in most of Africa, and barely features in contemporary African fiction, this book is a welcome surprise. In sensual, erotic, explicit stories, Osman writes about young gay Somalis whose identities are shaped as much by their sexualities as their cultural origins… Osman is a courageous writer but he is also an original one. His language is peppered with Somali words and crafted with all the concision and riches of poetry. At a time when African writing is on the rise, Osman stands above the crowd.’
—BERNARDINE EVARISTO, The Independent
‘One of the great joys of reading is finding books that detail experiences not often seen in mainstream literature. Fairytales for Lost Children by Diriye Osman is a raw collection of short stories about the queer Somali experience. These are often stories about exile from family, from country, from sanity, from self. Osman works well within the fairytale tradition. He uses patois and slang and rhythmic cadence to tell these stories in the only language they can be told…the power of these stories is undeniable.’
—ROXANE GAY, The Nation
'Diriye Osman is a new Baldwin.’
—BINYAVANGA WAINAINA, The Guardian
‘Osman won the Polari prize last year, and it’s easy to see why: this whole book is a joy. This, my favourite story, constructs a queer relationship’s breakup, makeup and then breakup again through the form of a dance between the lovers. It’s not just an examination of a relationship, but an individual’s journey into self-respect and love.’
—KIRSTY LOGAN, The Guardian
‘It’s a courageous collection that explores subjects often ignored by mainstream media – namely being LGBT in Africa, and being torn between your sexual impulses and your cultural heritage.’
—DOMINIQUE SISLEY, Dazed
‘We also truly admire Somali queer writer Diriye Osman, for the honest and humanizing way in which he expresses the existence and survival of the queer African person.’
—FAKA, Elle Magazine
'Diriye Osman is a Somali writer―gender fluid, and a proponent of ‘literary androgyny’. He was awarded the Polari First Book Prize in 2014, for his slim, masterful collection of short stories circling around issues of gender identity and sexual exploration. The characters in Fairytales for Lost Children are mostly young, on the cusp of self-realisation, and must navigate the thorny complexities of immigrant experience, family, and identity.'
—JANICE PARIAT, The Huffington Post
'Expatriated, diffident, beautiful, full of longing for home, and yet hopeful that home will one day make a place for those it rejects, realising that it itself is unhomed – estranged from itself – if it has no place for those like him. In the meanwhile, whist waiting for that miracle, I’m humbled and inspired by Osman’s flight of words and fancy.’
—NEELIKA JAYAWARDANE, Africa Is A Country
'Osman’s work exhibits a startlingly original voice that will surely challenge many within the Somali community, not noted for its openness about sexual identity, whilst surprising readers most familiar with the East African country for reports on Islamic militants and piracy.’
—MAGNUS TAYLOR, The New Internationalist
‘A series of poetic vignettes that utilize personal history, national trauma, vernacular, and linguistic sound patterning as texture, this book weaves together personal narratives of queer refugees—from the mother of the lesbian Somali daughter who casts her dreams into the ocean on paper and bits of rock, to the trans woman nurse in the psych ward who manipulates the medical industrial system for her own safety, to the desperate drag queen femme boy who slides on those first silk stockings, this book follows them all… Fairytales for Lost Children is a must-read for anyone, displaced or not, who has suffered the blessing and curse of coming out as queer in a world not ready to receive it. Texturally beautiful and tonally gorgeous, Osman has created a dark world of language and culture that every lost child can find themselves in.’
—JULY WESTHALE, Lambda Literary Review
‘Osman’s triumphant first book is a testament to just what can happen when a queer person gets up, gets out and gets something. Though his characters face plenty of painful challenges—homophobia, anti-refugee prejudice, mental illness—Osman’s stories are suffused with the possibility of joy and pleasure, whether in the form of sexual awakening, gender exploration or in learning how to stand up for yourself. Ultimately, his fairytales are affirmations of why life is worth living, even for the lost. The book’s final story, about a gay Somali-Jamaican couple living in London, concludes: “We own our bodies. We own our lives.”’
—JAMESON FITZPATRICK, Next Magazine
‘Diriye Osman is such a poignant and refreshing voice, amongst the hateful ignorance still prominent in today’s society, which is awash with anti-LGBT propaganda… a touching collection of short stories…a poetic masterpiece.’
—CAT VAN MAANEN, Wildabout Magazine
‘Set in Somalia, Kenya and London, these stories are concerned with identity, self-realization, displacement and the bonds of family. Osman’s vivid and intimate style brings to life narratives rooted in his own experiences as a gay Somali.’
—EDEN WOOD, Diva Magazine
'Narrated by young gay and lesbian Somalis, Diriye Osman’s Fairytales For Lost Children is a rich, complex and lyrical set of tales that span the complexities of family, identity and the immigrant experience. Set in Kenya, Somalia and South London, this collection of stories is sure to move and enthral in equal measure. One to watch out for.’
—WILL DAVIS, Attitude Magazine
'Each of Osman’s characters has been written into emancipation, whether it be erupting, a gentle acceptance, or falling quietly — like snow in fog. This book is also a record of the physical, mental and emotional effects of conservative power, pressure and prejudice on his richly resistant and defiant characters. In totality we are presented with an exhibition of loss: innocence, fear, family, shame, virginity, love and belonging. But what is lost leaves the space for something more precious, sacred and transformative. Something necessary. The freedom to explore your own ways of being with ownership — that as the last line of the collection states — “We own our bodies. We own our lives.”’
—JONATHAN DUNCAN, Africa Is A Country
‘An abundance of styles and sensory impressions…these bittersweet stories are painfully beautiful. Yet in amongst all the sadness of exile and repudiation there is always an emphasis on lust, joy and pleasure. Osman’s writing seems to be a carousel of languages, scents, melodies and flavours which celebrates beauty.’
—ANNA JÄGER, Chimurenga
‘Osman has a knack for creatively exploring an assortment of multifaceted themes through a number of literary fashions — and brilliantly at that. Osman’s first book Fairytales For Lost Children…is a collection of short stories that explore identity, sexuality, immigration, diaspora, family, mental health and trauma, all of which successfully wander through the universality that is the Somali experience.’
—HUDA HASSAN, Okay Africa
‘Osman’s writing is incredibly human, incredibly gentle, and incredibly visceral; by gentle, I don’t mean that Fairytales for Lost Children pretends life is better than it is, but rather than Osman slips into the lives of his characters, brings the reader with him for a brief snapshot, and then slips out again...Fairytales for Lost Children is ineluctably erotic; almost all the stories include Osman describing sex...beautifully evocative erotic writing that mixes at once the idea of immigrant communities, the homophobia that traditional families sometimes bring with them, the exclusion from both community and country that this can create, but also the idea of the gay community and the community of love. Osman, in Fairytales for Lost Children, has unleashed a truly amazing collection on the world that every queer-basher, and every racist anti-immigrant demagogue, should be forced to read. It drips empathy off every page, and that’s a rare, and beautiful, thing.’
—D. FRANKLIN, Intellectus Speculativas
‘Diriye Osman is a British Somali writer whose genre-bending debut collection illuminates the lives of young queer Somalis, both in their home country and in the diaspora. His characters grapple with what family, relationships, identity, and what it means to belong, or not belong, to a place or a country. Osman is also an artist, and his illustrations appear throughout, adding another layer to the whole collection.’
—LAURA SACKTON, Book Riot
‘Osman’s is a conscious fusion of international traditions, drawing upon a range of influences including Junot Diaz, Edwidge Danticat, Lorrie Moore, Nuruddin Farah and Chinua Achebe. In Fairytales, elements of these writers are mixed with the “endlessly fascinating culture” and “rich seam of history” of his Somali origins. The resulting fusion forged a cosmopolitan LGBT stance reminiscent of important predecessors such as the African-American gay literary icon James Baldwin.’
—THE BRITISH COUNCIL
‘Osman has created a kaleidoscope of experiences when you are young, queer, and Somali. Each short story narrative teeters on the verge of self-revelation: From schizophrenic lesbian artists in south London, to spliff-puffing gay teenagers in Nairobi, and then skipping to trans mental health nurses. I found this illustrated novel to be a vital insight into how queer Somali identities are shaped as much by their sexuality as they are their cultural origins—a feeling that can be translated across many boundaries of ethnicity and sexuality. As we, the world, seem to be rolling back queer rights, this book feels highly necessary in its exploration of being not only black and an immigrant, but also queer.’
—JESS COLE, Document Journal
‘Fairytales for Lost Children, Diriye Osman’s collection of short stories, is an exploration of how those who are multiply displaced create family, stability, love, and home; it is also an exposition of pain, and the escapes one might seek – through fairytale and fantasy – in order to live with that unbearable understanding. Gorgeous.’
—NEELIKA JAYAWARDANE, Africa is a Country, Books of the Year
‘Reading Osman’s lyrical writing makes us feel like we are falling, yes, but his work give us the certainty that we will land on a bed of feathers.’
—CARLOS BAJO ERRO, Wiriko (translated from Spanish)
‘Despite the pain and trauma described in Fairytales for Lost Children, the stories are full of playfulness, compassion and hope – much like Osman himself. Set against disparate backdrops across Somalia, Kenya and the UK, the stories are unified by resilient protagonists who seek peace and integration despite their fractured lives.’
—LOUIS PILARD, Channel Sussex
‘A tender, explosive, sensual, militant book. An experience, between traumas and great passions, that illuminates the queer world seen by a Somali among Somalis. The vernacular mixes with standard English. The Somali of everyday life with that queer code unknown even to the purists of the Somali language. People who claim their belonging, circling around a diaspora that from the ancient land of Punt transports us first to Kenya and then to the southern suburbs of London. The figures that Diriye describes are in constant movement, figures who seek each other, but who also seek meaning. They deny nothing, they want to be everything. They want to be Somali, black, Muslim, but also gay or lesbian.’
—IGIABO SCEGO, corriere delle migrazione (translated from Italian)
‘Diriye Osman has taken on the most critical aspects of the life of the African LGBTIQ community in London without any complexes. Uprooting, identity, the experience of migration, religion, customs and traditions, social pressure, mental illness, rejection by the family, but also sex, pleasure, joy, love and life as it unfolds.’
—CARLOS BAJO ERRO, Ctxt (translated from Spanish)
‘This collection of short stories is raw, erotic, sassy, vivid, devastating and most importantly, liberating. These stories are set in modern day Somalia, Kenya and London. The characters of these stories just want to be loved for who they are. They desire to live their lives free from hate, criticism, and scrutiny, while trying to understand the intersectionalities of their own identities.’
—DARKOWAA, African Book Addict
‘Fairytales for Lost Children represents not only a major contribution to African literature in terms of its subject matter, but also the first LGTBIQ+ text by a Somali writer. In the face of an African and heteronormative society, these stories question and destabilize the concept of the continent’s rigid “traditions” and the idea of a monolithic African sexuality. As the main character narrates in what is perhaps Diriye Osman’s most autobiographical story, “Your silence will not protect you,” “the Somali community is tremendously traditional and that feeling of tradition forces secrecy, repression, and puritanism.”
—FEDERICO VIVANCO, Literafricas (translated from Spanish)
‘What I really love about all the characters in all the stories is that they refuse to play the victim. They are confident, bold and unapologetic. This is what gives the darker themes their silver lining. A message of hope and happiness runs through these stories about loss and loneliness.’
—VIJAYALAKSHMI HARISH, The Reading Desk
‘None of the main characters in these short stories are in any doubt about who they are or what their sexuality is. Some of them are developing and in the process of discovering themselves. But these are not stories of doubt and self-denial. And that constitutes something refreshing and affirming in the collection.’
—KASPER HÅKANSSON, Bognoter (translated from Danish)
Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys: If this is not genius writing, then I don’t know what is. Diriye Osman is gifting us with a resistance manifesto. Resisting with your body, with your mannerism, with the way you walk, with the tone of your voice. It’s a massive middle finger to both the assimilating forces of the LGBT communities in the West and the repressive tradition in Somalia. These stories are also a celebration of sex—the powerful and revelatory force of living and savoring sexuality to its full extent. Sex as both a revolt and a deliciously erotic act. I was simply blown away by the writing and I can’t recommend this book enough.’
—HEBDO READINGS
For a comprehensive list of the acclaim Fairytales for Lost Children has received, you can access the Diriye Osman media archive here.
You can purchase this title from the following outlets:
UK: Waterstones / Amazon
US: Barnes & Noble / Amazon
You can find out more about Diriye Osman and his groundbreaking work here: www.diriyeosman.com
Here is Diriye Osman in conversation with his late friend, the great Kenyan writer, Binyavanga Wainaina:
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A SMALL SELECTION OF MUSICIANS INSPIRED BY DIRIYE OSMAN'S WORK
Instrumentals for Lost Children by Colorado-based artist, debthedemo, which you can buy via this link.
If I Were A Dance by Fijian artist, Mustafa Rafiq, which can you buy via this link.
TATTOOS FROM FANS INSPIRED BY FAIRYTALES FOR LOST CHILDREN
DIRIYE OSMAN FEATURED IN ARTIST, YINKA SHONIBARE'S BRITISH LIBRARY EXHIBITION
DIRIYE OSMAN ON THE COVER OF LOUISIANA MAGAZINE ALONGSIDE YAYOI KUSAMA
DIRIYE OSMAN'S PORTRAIT FEATURED IN LOUISIANA MUSEUM, DENMARK
POSTERS OF DIRIYE OSMAN'S FINAL LIVE EVENT IN OSLO, NORWAY
