“Exile from the Land of Giant Turtles” by Gar “Sahoni” Atkins (read by the Author)

You’re listening to The Voice of Dog.  This is Rob MacWolf, your fellow traveler, and Today’s story is “Exile from the Land of Giant Turtles” by Gar “Sahoni” Atkins, an indigenous and queer game designer and writer, you can find this story in the anthology collection In The Light of the Dawn; An Anthology of Antiquity. You can also find his games on his Itch.io bramblewolfgames.

Author’s Note: “This is a magical realism retelling of a bit of an important part of Tsalagi oral history and is regarded as part of our origin as a people. The original story is a very straight-forward historical story with no grand or fantastical elements. And while it might make a dry read as a transcription, when you hear it in Tsalagi, from a language speaker, there is a level of emotion and unspoken context that can be felt in the bones. My hopes in adding the narrative beats I did, the big, fantastical elements, the personal perspective, is an attempt to capture the impressions of some of these like you would with an abstract painting. This is a story meant to be read out loud, tasting the syllables and the emotions they carry. They are the bold colors and brushstrokes of the story as it asks you to consider the perspective of the real people that made that journey. I just hope I captured just some of what this story means.”

Read by the Author

thevoice.dog | Apple podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts

If you have a story you think would be a good fit, you can check out the requirements, fill out the submission template and get in touch with us.

https://thevoice.dog/episode/exile-from-the-land-of-giant-turtles-by-gar-sahoni-atkins