Ramadan's 'gorgeous' novel goes to Canongate

Canongate has signed The Foghorn Echoes, an "emotionally powerful" second novel from Danny Ramadan.

Ellah Wakatama, editor-at-large, acquired world all language rights, excluding Canada, from Rachel Letofsky at CookeMcDermid.

The novel, a follow up to Ramadan’s debut The Clothesline Swing (The Indigo Press), follows Hussam and Wassim, two teenage boys living in Syria during America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq. When a surprise discovery results in tragedy, their lives, and those of their families, are shattered. Wassim promises Hussam his protection, but 10 years into the future, he has failed to keep his promise. Wassim is on the streets, seeking shelter from both the city and the civil war storming his country. Meanwhile Hussam, now on the other side of the world, remains haunted by his own ghosts, doing his utmost to drown them out with every vice imaginable.

"Split between war-torn Damascus and unforgiving Vancouver, The Foghorn Echoes is a tragic love story about coping with shared traumatic experience and devastating separation," the synopsis explains. "As Hussam and Wassim come to terms with the past, they begin to realise the secret that haunts them is not the only secret that formed them."

The Foghorn Echoes will be published in September 2022 by Canongate, and with Viking Canada in August. Wakatama said: "This second novel from Ramadan is a gorgeous follow-up to his debut The Clothesline Swing. As he weaves this emotionally powerful account of a young love won and lost, in the backdrop of civil strife and migration, Ramadan demonstrates a unique ability to make connections between the political and the personal in a multi-layered story that will resonate with readers everywhere."

Ramadan is an award-winning Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker, storyteller and LGBTQ+ refugee activist. The Clothesline Swing won the Independent Publisher Book Award for Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Trans Fiction, was shortlisted for the Evergreen and the Sunburst Award and was named as a finalist in the Gay Fiction category of the Lambda Awards. He is also the author of children’s picture book Salma the Syrian Chef (Annick Press) and a forthcoming chapter book series based on the character.

"Five years ago on a misty Vancouver morning, I woke up to the foreign sound of a foghorn echoing through Vancouver," he said. "Within the hour, the seed for The Foghorn Echoes was born. Today, I am truly honoured and thankful this book is being published by Canongate. It feels like a deliverance. The book that used to be a couple of pages of raw words becomes a living breathing thing.

"Over the years, Canongate has published some of the finest literature in English and facilitated the translation of their books to dozens of languages. I feel that this work is in the capable hands of the folks there, and I couldn’t be happier to join their authors list, many of whom I admire deeply."