We Are Not Allowed To Die Here

Aluta Oshima was a lover, a father, and a friend before he buried his wife and all his friends, and watched as his children and their children age and die. He lived so long to see reincarnations of his loved ones in different countries and colours before taking his life for the first time, after trying and failing to figure out his purpose. He died, only to be reborn with the same image and memories of his previous life. Only to be, to love, and to watch everyone else grow and die all over again. Different centuries, different ways of ending his life, different families and friends, but the same story. The only constant thing in his life was death, and it proved to him many times and in the most painful ways that it was the only truth.

His story is filled with a history of relearning to let go and to accept, to grieve, and to find and give solace. We Are Not Allowed To Die Here teaches us how not to overcome loss but to be able to live through it and to keep watering the seeds we planted before we knew sorrow, even when we are warned that the storm may be coming our way, and to survive it all to witness the beauty.

This collection is his way of giving us comfort through his loved ones' last words, final moments and threnodies. Aluta is a self-centred bacchanal, not different from our uncles, aunts, or friends who give the best advice when they are drunk. With a thousand sunsets dying, it's hard to recognise the gods among us.

Trigger Warning: This book explores themes around mental health topics such as depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicide, and death.