Only a Little While Here : A Novel

This prize-winning debut novel braids together four sweetly- and sharply observed narratives about the joys and trials of migration—each told from the perspective of an animal protagonist.

This prizewinning novel weaves together four animal odysseys in a poignant meditation on migration, displacement, and the inextricable human and natural worlds.

In Only a Little While Here, award-winning author María Ospina evokes a sensation birders know well—the gratification to be had through close, humble observation of nature. With characteristic grace and curiosity, Ospina trains our attention on the lives of four creatures: a south-bound songbird dazzled by city lights, an orphaned porcupine saved by human kindness, a loyal dog grieving the abduction of her human companion, and a determined beetle transported to a vast, unimaginable world. The surprising drama of their lives reveals the fragility and resilience of belonging, and what it means to create—or lose—a home.

Each animal’s journey challenges us to confront the beauty and brutality of the world we shape around our non-human fellows. Along the way, the narrator models the intense interest needed to mend the rift between humans and animals, and celebrates their often-overlooked status as witnesses of our shared world.

Tender, meditative, and soul-stirring, Only a Little While Here is ecological fiction at its most inventive and heartfelt.