Everything is Fine Here has been selected as the featured title for OverDrive's Canada-wide book club, Libby Reads. From November 5th to 19th, Canadian libraries will have the novel available free to read with no holds or waitlists as an ebook and audiobook. All you need is your library card to borrow the book through the Libby App. Dive deeper into Everything is Fine Here with readers from around the world. The Discussion Board is where book club–style conversations happen from first impressions to thoughtful reflections on characters, themes, and meaning.

And here is the video where I'm stumbling through describing my own novel.

Everything is Fine Here was awarded the First Book Award at the 33rd Annual Saskatchewan Book Awards, which took place in Regina, May 1st 2026.

Thank you to On Creative Writing for the opportunity to talk about honouring orality and language as resistance.

To honour Black History Month, CBC Books is highlighting three Black Canadian writers who are making their mark. I'm very grateful to be included.

Everything is Fine Here is one of 15 books longlisted for Canada Reads.
The five panellists and the five books they choose to champion will be revealed on Jan. 22.

A local writer friend, Ken Wilson (Walking the Bypass: Notes on Place From the Side of the Road, University of Regina Press, 2025) recently wrote a beautiful review of Everything is Fine Here where he picks on the novel's protagonist's transformed experience of time and sensation when she reads fiction.

Everything is Fine Here is one of 10 books nominated for the 2026 Evergreen Award. A brainchild of the Ontario Library Association, the Forest of Reading is Canada’s largest recreational reading program!

Sabrina Cataldo has written a lovely profile of myself and fellow University of Regina alumni Ken Wilson and Melanie Schnell.

My short story, Rapture, is included in Grain Magazine's 200th issue out now!

“I hope that the book sparks dialogue about what is possible for these women as they continue living their lives,” says Tushabe. “I also hope for there to be a conversation about how queerness is portrayed in African literature.” Read the full review/story at Prairie Books NOW

The author of “Everything Is Fine Here” answers our author questionnaire

Iryn Tushabe’s debut novel charts the rise of homophobia following a worldwide conservative current seeking to repeal progressive cultural reforms. The book asks pressing questions about whether political writers must appeal to or incite a sense of indignation in readers for social justice fiction to be effective, and how religious apostasy can fill a person with self-doubt, dread and uncertainty. Read the full article

"This is a really well-written novel that’s full of heart and wonderful characters. Apart from LGBTQ+ and family (found included) themes, as well as Aine’s coming-of-age journey, there’s a close and very moving study of bereavement and grief. Everything is Fine Here is excellent modern African literature that scores very highly on my “I need it not to be about war, poverty or AIDS please” list—important for me because I want to read about the complexity of African lives outside of tired media portrayals. There’s so much more to see, and Tushabe’s novel shows it—as well as managing to be an emotionally astute, fun and engaging read.

Read the full review

It's been almost 20 years since Iryn Tushabe left Uganda to live in Regina, and she says that she writes to recover things she's left behind.

The traditional stories of spiteful gods and triumphant heroes were one of the ways she and her family connected with each other.

Tushabe discussed Everything is Fine Here on Bookends with Mattea Roach.

Read the CBC web feature.

This spring Regina's Iryn Tushabe released her debut novel 'Everything is Fine Here'. and it grabs you from the very first page. It's set in Iryn's home country of Uganda and follows one family through the eyes of an 18-year old young woman named Aine. She's just discovered her older, beloved sister has been in a lesbian relationship for years. That discovery sets off a chain of events and emotions that lead us from a boarding school in rural Uganda to experiences in the country's capital city of Kampala. It's a story about the secrets we keep... and the ties that connect us. Iryn joins host Shauna Powers for a wide ranging conversation.

"There’s a lot of grief and pain in this book; Aine’s final year of boarding school is rocked by multiple events, but there’s also a firm core of Aine knowing what’s important to her, even as she does some exploration." – The Miramichi Reader

Thank you Alison Manley for this lovely review of Everything is Fine Here in the The Miramichi Reader.

In this Writer's Digest interview, author Iryn Tushabe discusses how her anger-fueled first draft led to a restart and ultimately to her debut novel, Everything is Fine Here.