Mia Arderne is a Cape-Town based writer with by lines in, for example, the Mail & Guardian, New Frame, Africa is a Country and VISI magazine. Her debut novel Mermaid Fillet (2020) was longlisted for the Sunday Times-CNA Literary Awards. Her essay 1 000 Nights in Silence on love and depression features in the anthology Touch: Sex, Sexuality and Sensuality published in 2021 by Kwela. Some of her children’s short stories have also been published by Penguin Random House in two anthologies aimed at classroom use, namely, Die Skool vir Rampspoedige Talente en Ander Gelukkige Stories and The Vegan Vampire and Other Fantastic Fiction.
A Thousand Eyes On You is Mia Arderne’s second novel. She worked on it while staying at Paulet Huis during the JGF/PEN residency in 2022 and we are excited to see it released.
Thousand Eyes On You is an edgy urban fantasy that weaves indigenous mythology into a romance that will leave you breathless.
I heard there’s a girl in school growing wings. No, she’s not graduating or anything. She’s legit growing wings, just like this other oke in school. He’s doesn’t have wings though. He’s growing a tail and he keeps skipping class. They probably think no one sees them but we’re watching them. They keep getting closer and closer to each other so we all have to watch them. The sky and the sea. The rivers and the forest. Faeries and mermaids. It’s hectic, I know. A thousand eyes watching you but I guess that’s what happens to us as we grow up. We either grow a tail or wings and the world watches the ugly process unfold.
Mia Ardrene’s novel is now available at your nearest bookstore and online.
