Winner of the 2013 Commonwealth Writer's Prize for African literature. E.E. Sule's debut novel, Sterile Sky, presents a community wrecked by religious conflict and a young boy hunting for a better future. On the day that Murtala comes of age, violent riots break out in his home city of Kano – leading to unspeakable tragedy within his own family. While chaos threatens to erase everything he holds dear, Murtala is stalked by monsters both real and imagined. A gifted student, he grows desperate to escape from the web of poverty and religious extremism that surrounds him. An immensely poignant and powerful novel, Sterile Sky captures the religious conflicts of modern Nigeria and the enduring hope for peace. 'An ambitious work that tells the definitive story of an important moment in Nigeria’s sociopolitical history.' Sanya Osha