Available Formats
Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space: A Literary Mixtape
By (Author) Rmy Ngamije
Simon & Schuster
Gallery
16th September 2025
United States
General
Fiction
Paperback
320
Width 135mm, Height 210mm, Spine 22mm
271g
In this absolute marvel of a book (Dinaw Mengestu, author of Someone Like Us), acclaimed author Remy Ngamije offers up a vibrant collection of award-winning short fiction.
Presented as a literary mixtape, Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space is a work that provides you with a uniquely modern reading experience. The A-Side, read as one narrative, tells the story of a soon-to-be thirty-year-old aspiring writer navigating a complicated world. The B-Side, taken as a separate experience, features (seemingly) independent and unrelated short stories.
Theres Crunchy, Green Apples (or, Omo), a story about loss told by the strangest of narrative devices: a shopping list. Sofa, So Good, Sort Of (or, John Muafangejo) is a first-person account of a familys history and a long journey towards hope. A group of friends attempts to navigate a recent breakup in From the Lost City of Hurtlantis to the Streets of Helldorado (or, Franco).
When read together, however, a third world emergesa complex, intergenerational, and interconnected journey across all genres (Mukoma Wa Ngugi, author of Unbury Our Dead with Song) that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.
Rmy Ngamije is a Rwandan-born Namibian writer and photographer. He won the Africa Regional Prize of the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize and was shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2021 and 2020.He is the founder of the Doek Arts Trust, an arts organization which publishesDoek! Literary Magazine, the countrys first literary magazine which he cofounded and serves as editor-in-chief. His work has been supported by the Civitella Ranieri Foundation and the Miles Morland Foundation and has been featured in literary festivals in Accra, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Berlin, and Basel. More of his writing can be read on his website: RemyTheQuill.com.