Iron Born: A Poem By Abunic Sherif II
Liberian poet, Abunic, writes against racial discrimination in very sharp lines. His solidarity with those who were murdered on the scaffold of racism is so glaring. We hope that you enjoy the read as much as we did here. “What is dead may never die.”…
AKO Caine Prize 2020 Shortlist: The Faces of a New Decade in African Writing
AKO Caine Prize enters its 21st year— an arching into a 3rd decade— on the brazen wings of a jaw-dropping 222 submissions from 28 African nations. It is a coming of age in the trajectory of the continental award, a number of submissions it has…
AKO Caine Prize, 2020: Read Shortlisted Stories here.
Earlier today, a 5-man shortlist for the AKO Caine Prize, 2020 was announced. In 2019, this prize was won by Lesly Nneka Arimah and it is such a joy to learn that three Nigerians made the list! According to the judges, the five shortlisted stories,…
Bleeding (Part I)
Written By: Ejiofor C. E. S Kamarana wanted to die. At first because of the stinging pain between her legs and the stickiness of the clotting blood that trickled with lazy effort between her legs. But now though she feared she would die of something…
What my Mother Means When She Says, “May the Road be Kind to You”
Before the bus hits the road, mama would lean against the white Benue Links bus — which always has a bright red and deep green strip running through it– and mutter a prayer the same way she did the first time I left Gboko for…
Men Like God, An Essay By Owolabi Awwal Olanrewaju
Owolabi Awwal Olarenwaju calls us out for not showing enough respect to military men who walked right into the arms of death to see to our collective safety. He insists that we must remember them. The fallen heroes, whose bodies were feasted on by scavengers…
The Phantom’s Refrain
Written By: Samuel Adeyemi A boy walks into a bar,swings the door openlike he is the wind’s first child.But a boy has no mother.The world commits another absurd adoption.A boy is another loose string on the cello,another wrong piano note,whose sound is swallowed in the…
Lessons From my Encounter With a Generous Beggar
Yesterday I was out all day. Sitting outside an eatery, using their free power supply to work on my PC. As I sat there going back and forth on the many tabs opened on my browser, enduring the noise of the gen. which sat beside…
The Songbirds Sing, My Ears Hear a Dirge
Written By: Adejuwon Gbalajobi You’re heavy upon me heart, sorrow.You’re a ravenous beast inside of me.A thousand Psalms I’ve sung to silence you,my throat burns with prayers to still your madness– still you ravish me. How do I wheel myself into joy when it is…
The Death of an Age
Written By: Nnaemeka Enemchukwu It was not long before our Great Personage was taken up in the midst of green clouds that the strange men came. This time we were living in an age of magic, miracles, and mysteries. We had a life that was…
