Everything is Fine Here by Iryn Tushabe
Eighteen-year-old Aine Kamara has been anticipating a reunion with her older sister, Mbabazi, for months. But when Mbabazi shows up with an unexpected guest, Aine must confront an old fear: her beloved sister is gay in a country with tight anti-homosexuality laws.
Over a weekend at Aine's all girls' boarding school, sisterly bonds strengthen, and a new friendship emerges between Aine and her sister's partner, Achen.
Later, a sudden death in the family brings Achen to Mbabazi's and Aine's home village, resulting in tensions that put Mrs. Kamara's Christian beliefs to the test.
She issues an ultimatum, forcing Mbabazi to make a difficult choice, but Aine must too. Unable to convince Mama to reconsider, Aine runs away to Mbabazi's and Achen's home in Kampala.
There she reconnects with Elia, the sophomore at Makerere University she's had a crush on for a while. (From House of Anansi Press)
Everything is Fine Here is available in April 2025.
Iryn Tushabe is a Ugandan Canadian writer and journalist based in Regina. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Briarpatch Magazine, Adda, Grain Magazine, The Walrus and CBC Saskatchewan. She won the City of Regina writing award in both 2020 and 2024, and was a finalist for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2021. In 2023, she won the Writers' Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize. She was longlisted for the CBC Nonfiction Prize in 2016.
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Winnipeg Free Press
29-05-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Who are the Sacred Harp singers using a more than 180-year-old hymnal today
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He discovered 'The Sacred Harp' much later, while living in Alpharetta, Georgia. 'There are definitely some people that have very different beliefs than me, have very different upbringings, have very different day-to-day lives, but when we come together and sing … that can be our one thing that we are in unison over,' he said. Finding singing in the 'backwoods of Alabama' More than 20 years ago, Bridge Hill Kennedy was burned out by music ministry when he joined his sister-in-law at a Sacred Harp singing event. Unfamiliar with the tradition, they looked up YouTube videos beforehand. 'We went into the backwoods of Alabama, and there it was, some of the most beautiful music that I've ever heard,' he said. Today, it feeds his soul and boosts his mood. 'This community means the world to me,' Kennedy said. 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A young girl's songbook Eleven-year-old Riley McKibbin received her copy of 'The Sacred Harp' from her family with its long line of Sacred Harp singers. At the front of her songbook, a handwritten note dated Aug. 6, 2017, reminds her of that. Riley, who likes how 'everybody comes together and they can just sing Godly songs for God,' has attended Sacred Harp singing events since she was a baby. For a few years now, she's served as a song leader, taking her turn guiding the group and keeping time. Riley's mother, Lisa Webb, said her daughter has always loved to sing, and it was important to have her share in the family tradition. Songs remind singer of special people in his life Specific hymns in 'The Sacred Harp' remind Oscar McGuire of singers in his life, including those no longer living. He'll often lead those songs at singing events. 'I'll get hung up on two or three songs and lead the same songs every Sunday,' he said. 'I'll sing them kind of in their memory.' 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'They had to talk me into going to this weird thing they were doing and loving with strange adult friends of theirs that I had never met and had zero interest in whatsoever,' said Rees, who remembers well that first singing he attended. 'I just got into it and loved it.' ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Winnipeg Free Press
29-05-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Takeaways from AP's report on why pre-Civil War hymnal ‘The Sacred Harp' is getting an update
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