The Power of Voice – Sulaiman Addonia on The Seers

In this special live recording we dive into The Seers, the mesmerising new novel by Sulaiman Addonia. In conversation with Adam Biles, Addonia shares the story behind his bold, unfiltered novel—written as a single, unbroken paragraph—through the voice of Hannah, an Eritrean refugee navigating love, loss, sexuality, and identity on the streets of London. Three powerful readings by Liya Kebede, bringing Hannah’s world vividly to life

The Seers is a novel that defies definition—sensual, poetic, and politically charged. Addonia’s reflections on storytelling, migration, and the search for home will stay with you long after you listen.

Buy The Seers: https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/books/the-seers

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Sulaiman Addonia is an Eritrean-Ethiopian-British novelist. He spent his early life in a refugee camp in Sudan, and his early teens in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He arrived in London as an underage unaccompanied refugee without a word of English and went on to earn an MA in Development Studies from SOAS and a BSc in Economics from UCL.

His first novel, The Consequences of Love (Chatto & Windus, 2008), was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and translated into more than 20 languages. His second novel, Silence Is My Mother Tongue (Indigo Press, 2019; Graywolf Press, 2020), was a finalist for the 2021 Lambda Literary Awards. His essays appear in LitHub, Granta, Freeman’s, The New York Times, De Standaard and Sulaiman Addonia is an Eritrean-Ethiopian-British novelist .Addonia currently lives in Brussels where he founded the Creative Writing Academy for Refugees & Asylum Seekers and the Asmara-Addis Literary Festival In Exile.

Liya Kebede is a pioneering model, actress, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. She has worked with top fashion brands like Chanel, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and Estée Lauder, promoting inclusivity in the industry. In 2007, she launched lemlem, a sustainable fashion brand supporting Ethiopian Artisans. Kebede is also a WHO Goodwill Ambassador and founded the lemlem Foundation to improve healthcare and economic opportunities for African women. She promotes literature through her latest endeavour "Liyabraire" and introduced the BB Bookbags collection.

Adam Biles is Literary Director at Shakespeare and Company. His latest novel, Beasts of England, a to Animal Farm, is available now. Buy a signed copy here: https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/books/beasts-of-england

Listen to Alex Freiman’s latest EP, In The Beginning: https://open.spotify.com/album/5iZYPMCUnG7xiCtsFCBlVa?si=h5x3FK1URq6SwH9Kb_SO3w

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