Musih Tedji Xaviere is a Cameroonian author and activist. She writes literary fiction and is best known for her debut novel, These Letters End in Tears (2024), which was shortlisted for Book of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2025.
Musih Tedji Xaviere grew up in Cameroon and became interested in writing at age eleven after reading Oliver Twist. “I knew I wanted to be a writer when I read Oliver Twist at eleven years old,” she said. By thirteen, she had written a romance novella that became popular in her school. In her twenties, she self-published a young adult novel, citing the absence of traditional publishing options in Cameroon.
Xaviere is an alumna of the Goethe-Institut, the Moth, and the African Women Development Fund. In 2021, she won the Pontas and JJ Bola Emerging Writers Prize for the then-unfinished manuscript of her debut novel. This win led to the traditional publication of These Letters End in Tears.
The novel follows Bessem and Fatima, two young women who fall in love in a country where same-sex relationships are criminalised. Fatima vanishes after a tragic event, and thirteen years later, Bessem, now a closeted university professor, begins a search for the truth. Told through unsent letters, the novel explores love, loss and endurance.
“The idea that flowers can grow in the desert is very beautiful to me,” Xaviere said, explaining her motivation. “I wanted to tell a story that not only highlights the struggles of gay people in the country but also to celebrate how beauty can grow in the dark.”
The story is partly set in the late 1990s and early 2000s in Cameroon. “Letter writing was the primary means of communication when I was in secondary school,” she noted. She used the letter format in her novel to reflect that era and the emotional depth it carries. “They communicate her longing, her fears, and hope.”
Xaviere often speaks about Cameroonian resilience. “Anglophone Cameroonians demonstrated just how brave Cameroonians are when they stood up to government oppression in 2016.” She names sunshine as the one thing she misses most since relocating. “People underestimate the power of sunshine,” she said.
Musih Tedji Xaviere is now based in the UK.
Photo credit: X @MusihX
Musih Tedji Xaviere grew up in Cameroon and became interested in writing at age eleven after reading Oliver Twist. “I knew I wanted to be a writer when I read Oliver Twist at eleven years old,” she said. By thirteen, she had written a romance novella that became popular in her school. In her twenties, she self-published a young adult novel, citing the absence of traditional publishing options in Cameroon.
Xaviere is an alumna of the Goethe-Institut, the Moth, and the African Women Development Fund. In 2021, she won the Pontas and JJ Bola Emerging Writers Prize for the then-unfinished manuscript of her debut novel. This win led to the traditional publication of These Letters End in Tears.
The novel follows Bessem and Fatima, two young women who fall in love in a country where same-sex relationships are criminalised. Fatima vanishes after a tragic event, and thirteen years later, Bessem, now a closeted university professor, begins a search for the truth. Told through unsent letters, the novel explores love, loss and endurance.
“The idea that flowers can grow in the desert is very beautiful to me,” Xaviere said, explaining her motivation. “I wanted to tell a story that not only highlights the struggles of gay people in the country but also to celebrate how beauty can grow in the dark.”
The story is partly set in the late 1990s and early 2000s in Cameroon. “Letter writing was the primary means of communication when I was in secondary school,” she noted. She used the letter format in her novel to reflect that era and the emotional depth it carries. “They communicate her longing, her fears, and hope.”
Xaviere often speaks about Cameroonian resilience. “Anglophone Cameroonians demonstrated just how brave Cameroonians are when they stood up to government oppression in 2016.” She names sunshine as the one thing she misses most since relocating. “People underestimate the power of sunshine,” she said.
Musih Tedji Xaviere is now based in the UK.
Photo credit: X @MusihX
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I learned in time that your lips were as sinful in action as they were to look at.
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I was furious at the world for turning us into cockroaches, only comfortable in dark places.
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