My daughter, who teaches me ‘how’ to dance all the time. ‘It’s like this, Daddy, not like that.’

Massive appreciation to Ellah Wakatama Allfrey. It’s been a dream working with you.

Isobel Dixon, thank you for believing in this book. Lisa Classen, Susanna Nicklin, Maaza Mengiste, Michael Salu, Vimbai Shire, Alexander Spears, Lee Gillette, Ubah Cristina Ali Farah, Kate Vrielynck, Geert Craeynest, Tamara Gaussi, Anne Bathily, big thank you all. I wrote this book, mainly, around cafes in Ixelles, Brussels, so thanks to all baristas who became friends.

Hawa Addonia, rest in peace my beautiful sister. I love you.

Karen Goeyens, may you rest in peace our dear friend.

To young Sulaiman: those multiple childhood traumas resurfaced aggressively during the writing of this book, reminding me how much you’ve endured. Thank you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sulaiman S.M.Y. Addonia is a novelist who fled Eritrea as a refugee in childhood. He spent his early life in a refugee camp in Sudan following the Om Hajar massacre in 1976, and in his early teens he lived and studied in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He arrived in London as an unaccompanied minor without a word of English and went on to earn a BSc in Economics from University College London and an MA in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His debut novel, The Consequences of Love, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and was translated into more than twenty languages. He currently lives in Brussels where he has launched a creative writing academy for refugees and asylum seekers.

The text of Silence Is My Mother Tongue

is set in Goudy Old Style.

Book design by www.salu.io.

Composition by Beyond White Space.

Manufactured by Versa Press on acid-free,

30 percent postconsumer wastepaper.