Selali Fiamanya, a Glasgow-born author of Ghanaian descent, has been named to the longlist for the Fiction Book of the Year at Scotland’s National Book Awards 2025 for his novel, Before We Hit the Ground.
Published by The Borough Press, an imprint of HarperCollins, in February 2025, Before We Hit the Ground traces a Ghanaian-Scottish family’s journey across Accra, Glasgow, and London over three decades. The novel delves into themes of grief, queerness, class, and the complexities of diaspora life following a shattering family tragedy. Fiamanya draws from his own experiences, having spent part of his childhood in Accra before returning to Scotland.
Fiamanya, a participant in the inaugural Breakthrough Novel program, joins nine other authors on the fiction longlist, including three debut novelists.
Born and raised in Glasgow, with a couple of years spent in Accra, Ghana. Selali Fiamanya has won a place on the inaugural Breakthrough Novel-Writing Course for Black Writers, run by Curtis Brown Creative and supported by Curtis Brown Literary Agency. He was named runner-up in the 2021 Pontas & JJ Bola Emerging Writers Prize, and won The Borough Press open submission competition with his debut novel Before We Hit the Ground, which was published in February 2025.
To learn more about Scotland’s National Book Awards 2025, kindly click here.
Congratulations, Selali Fiamanya!
Bakare Oluwatobiloba
I write to educate, motivate and define history with literature. Just being me!
