Ani Kayode Somtochukwu

The inaugural title from Roxane Gay Books , And Then He Sang a Lullaby is a searingly honest debut from a Nigerian writer and queer liberation activist, exploring what love and freedom cost in a society steeped in homophobia. August is a talented athlete who leaves Enugu City to attend university and escape his overbearing sisters. It's his first semester and, pressures aside, he's making friends and doing well. He even almost has a girlfriend. There's only one problem: he can't stop thinking about Segun, an openly gay student who works at a local cybercafé. Their connection is undeniable, but Segun is reluctant to open himself up to August. He wants to love and be loved by a man who is comfortable in his own skin, who will see and hold and love Segun, exactly as he is. Despite their differences, August and Segun forge a tender intimacy that defies the violence around them. But there is only so long Segun can stand being loved behind closed doors, while August lives a life beyond the world they've created together. And when a new, sweeping anti-gay law is passed, August and Segun must find a way for their love to survive in a Nigeria that was always determined to eradicate them. A tale of rare bravery and profound beauty, And Then He Sang a Lullaby is an extraordinary debut that marks Ani Kayode Somtochukwu as a voice to watch.

And Then He Sang a Lullaby

Stories had that effect on him. They possessed him over and over.

. . . the moment nevertheless had such a naked, palpable risk to it, that made it seem like the most honest thing in the world.

Now, all that remained was empty space. He didn't know how to accustom himself to this feeling, this gaping feeling that he had lost something and that he would always feel that loss, that grief.

"Let's not talk about this. . . thing," he said, drawing out the word till it took on a life of its own: 

August could almost feel it as a presence in the room. . .

Segun’s eyes had that same quality, like something August could lose himself in.

Many times, he felt like this room was suffocating, choking him of breath, and even when he was not in the room, that feeling followed him. It was why he loved those books so much. They showed him that a world where he could breathe was possible, was inevitable.

August felt himself slowly coming apart and becoming something he had for a long time feared becoming.

It was the first time August had been with someone and came out of it feeling an ephemeral glow to his skin, like he had experienced light in its purest form. It felt like knowing himself for the first time. Somehow he found himself in the slender contours of Segun's body in a way that was completely untethered to this world, two men sharing something beautiful, something almost heavenly.

He felt so raw, like his entire body was an open wound, like his life had been stolen from him, just as he was figuring out what it was about.

Isabel 

...it'll be quite easy because America has never cared about things like human rights.

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