The Sky Is Broken
A story of migration, identity, trauma, and resilience by By Tomisin Ilesanmi, MA in English Literature
My name is Tomiisin Ilesanmi, an aspiring Nigerian writer who, through my thesis, seeks to move beyond the manifesto form of African writing and focus on lighthearted traditional fantasy stories for the young adult demography. But how I came to explore contemporary fragile terrains of identity, migration, resilience, and hope foregrounds the undeniable reality that we can't escape our stories.
The Sky is Broken, my newly published collection, began as an attempt to articulate the quiet ruptures we often endure but rarely name. A classroom discussion about a broken society, The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas, turned into personal reflection and expanded into a broader exploration of what it means to be human in a world constantly shifting beneath your feet.
For fear that I was writing another stereotyped African narrative, I fought this urge, well, for as long as I could. That was when I realized I was writing a universal story, people's lived experiences. That was when I realized stereotypes are a key ingredient for connection. Now, I give credit to introspective stories because they allow us to see the world more clearly.
Living itself is an experiment, so we should be open to trying new things.
Through this hybrid collection, I carry the memory of home as both comfort and conflict. An exiled mind scrambling for acceptance. I honor the resilience embedded in my culture: the belief that even in seasons of brokenness, something divine and enduring guides us forward. I wanted to capture the cracks, the places where the light enters, but also where the pain gathers, what it means to be uprooted or in transition.
As a successful experiment of creative writing forms, this collection explores displacement, belonging, inherited wounds, hope, faith, and the invisible work of healing. At its heart, The Sky Is Broken is a testament to survival. The courage required to live, break, mend, and rise again. I hope readers carry from this book the understanding that brokenness is not an ending but an invitation into new becoming. And from my initial writing interest, that living itself is an experiment, so we should be open to trying new things.
Through this hybrid collection, I carry the memory of home as both comfort and conflict. An exiled mind scrambling for acceptance. I honor the resilience embedded in my culture: the belief that even in seasons of brokenness, something divine and enduring guides us forward. I wanted to capture the cracks, the places where the light enters, but also where the pain gathers, what it means to be uprooted or in transition.
As a successful experiment of creative writing forms, this collection explores displacement, belonging, inherited wounds, hope, faith, and the invisible work of healing. At its heart, The Sky Is Broken is a testament to survival. The courage required to live, break, mend, and rise again. I hope readers carry from this book the understanding that brokenness is not an ending but an invitation into new becoming. And from my initial writing interest, that living itself is an experiment, so we should be open to trying new things.
Thank you for allowing me to share this piece of my world. May these stories remind us that even when the sky breaks, there is a possibility for repair. Finally, to students navigating change, uncertainty, or self-discovery, these stories say: you are not alone.