With admission to The Program, an elite interdisciplinary graduate cohort at the forefront of astronomy and technology, Rosa’s dreams are finally within reach. Her research into the cosmos follows in the footsteps of her astronomer father’s revolutionary work in Bantu geometries and Indigenous astronomies. A bona fide genius, he transformed the scientific landscape by fusing the best of Western and Indigenous scientific thought. Yet since his death during her childhood, Rosa has been plagued by anxiety attacks she dubs “The Terrors”—and by unresolved questions about her father’s life. Who is his mysterious friend Mr. C? Who was her father, really? Ambitious, hungry for success and determined to soar, Rosa joins the ranks of America’s smartest. Her cohort of talented Fellows includes Shaniqua, her roommate, who is analysing melanin molecules and their capacity to conduct electricity; Richard, an expert in quantum mechanics; Mausi, studying Indigenous American scientific thought; and Péralte, Rosa’s estranged stepbrother whose obsessive video-gaming has inspired him to become a programmer. Her classmates challenge Rosa’s understanding of identity, personhood, the ethics of technology and, most painfully, her adulation of her father, whose legacy is more complicated than it appears. Digging Stars is a paean to the cosmos and a celebration of the democratic spirit of knowledge. Novuyo Rosa Tshuma’s characters explode the rigid matrices of the academy to prove that science, art, technology and history are all planets orbiting the same sun.

"Tshuma is nuanced yet explosive as she explores the intersection of science, identity and grief... this is a smart, incisive novel that blends a gripping coming-of-age story with a poignant story about loss" -- Weike Wang - The New York Times
"Tshuma is nuanced yet explosive as she explores the intersection of science, identity and grief... this is a smart, incisive novel that blends a gripping coming-of-age story with a poignant story about loss" -- Weike Wang - The New York Times

Novuyo Rosa Tshuma is the author of the novel House of Stone, the winner of the 2019 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award and the 2019 Bulawayo Arts Award for Outstanding Fiction. Her work has been shortlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, the Dylan Thomas Prize, and the Balcones Fiction Prize. A native of Zimbabwe, she has lived in South Africa and the United States and has taught fiction workshops globally.