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Cover image courtesy of publisher.
Issue Details: First known date: 2015... 2015 The Abyssinian Contortionist : Hope, Friendship and Other Circus Acts
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Sosina Wogayehu learnt to do flips and splits at the age of six, sitting on the floor of her parents’ lounge room in Addis Ababa, watching a German variety show on the only television channel in the land. She sold cigarettes on the streets at the age of eight, and played table soccer with her friends who made money from washing cars, barefoot in the dust. She dreamed of being a circus performer.

'Twenty-five years later, Sosina has conjured herself a new life in a far-off country: Australia. She has rescued one brother and lost another. She has travelled the world as a professional contortionist. She can bounce-juggle eight balls on a block of marble.

'Sosina is able to juggle worlds and stories, too, and by luck — which is something Sosina is not short of — she has a friend, David Carlin, who is a writer.

'Following his acclaimed memoir Our Father Who Wasn’t There, David brings us his ‘not-me’ book, travelling to Addis Ababa where he discovers ways of living so different to his own and confronts his Western fantasies and fears. Through Sosina’s story he shows us that, with risk and enough momentum, life — whom we befriend, where we end up, how we come to see ourselves — is never predictable.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Dedication: For Linda and Melaku, Esther, Louis, Raeey and Kidus

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crawley, Inner Perth, Perth, Western Australia,: UWA Publishing , 2015 .
      image of person or book cover 9173369166094359609.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 244p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: March 2015
      ISBN: 9781742586786

Works about this Work

Review : The Abyssinian Contortionist Jennifer Somerville , 2015 single work
— Appears in: Good Reading , September 2015; (p. 58)

— Review of The Abyssinian Contortionist : Hope, Friendship and Other Circus Acts David Carlin , 2015 single work biography
It’s Been a Big Life So Far : Cate Kennedy Launches the ‘The Abyssinian Contortionist’ by David Carlin Cate Kennedy , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , April - June no. 14 2015;

— Review of The Abyssinian Contortionist : Hope, Friendship and Other Circus Acts David Carlin , 2015 single work biography
David Carlin : The Abyssinian Contortionist Michelle McLaren , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , June 2015;

— Review of The Abyssinian Contortionist : Hope, Friendship and Other Circus Acts David Carlin , 2015 single work biography
Real-life Feats of Derring-Do Andrew McMillen , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 2-3 May 2015; (p. 21)

— Review of The Abyssinian Contortionist : Hope, Friendship and Other Circus Acts David Carlin , 2015 single work biography
Well Read Robyn Douglass , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 21 March 2015; (p. 22)

— Review of Bad Behaviour : A Memoir of Bullying and Boarding School Rebecca Starford , 2015 single work autobiography ; The Abyssinian Contortionist : Hope, Friendship and Other Circus Acts David Carlin , 2015 single work biography
Well Read Robyn Douglass , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 21 March 2015; (p. 22)

— Review of Bad Behaviour : A Memoir of Bullying and Boarding School Rebecca Starford , 2015 single work autobiography ; The Abyssinian Contortionist : Hope, Friendship and Other Circus Acts David Carlin , 2015 single work biography
Real-life Feats of Derring-Do Andrew McMillen , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 2-3 May 2015; (p. 21)

— Review of The Abyssinian Contortionist : Hope, Friendship and Other Circus Acts David Carlin , 2015 single work biography
David Carlin : The Abyssinian Contortionist Michelle McLaren , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , June 2015;

— Review of The Abyssinian Contortionist : Hope, Friendship and Other Circus Acts David Carlin , 2015 single work biography
It’s Been a Big Life So Far : Cate Kennedy Launches the ‘The Abyssinian Contortionist’ by David Carlin Cate Kennedy , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Rochford Street Review , April - June no. 14 2015;

— Review of The Abyssinian Contortionist : Hope, Friendship and Other Circus Acts David Carlin , 2015 single work biography
Review : The Abyssinian Contortionist Jennifer Somerville , 2015 single work
— Appears in: Good Reading , September 2015; (p. 58)

— Review of The Abyssinian Contortionist : Hope, Friendship and Other Circus Acts David Carlin , 2015 single work biography
Last amended 30 Oct 2015 10:22:21
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