This Black Body of Yours – Emmanuel Esomnofu
This Black Body of Yours Emmanuel EsomnofuI didn't know how to be so youngand not belong anywhere, stuckamong so many perplexing melodies.– Philip Schultz You don’t want to know how it feels. Trust me, you don’t. The day has hardly begun and you’ve just entered the...
Passing Through – Brendon Holder
Passing Through Brendon Holder1. In 2015, one of the first viral disputes took centre stage online. The internet found itself entangled in a discussion over the dress a mother planned on wearing to her daughter’s wedding in Colonsay, Scotland. The debate, catalysed by...
Notes on Leaving Home – Ọlákìtán T Ọlọ́fínmọ̀mí
Notes on Leaving Home Ọlákìtán T Ọlọ́fínmọ̀mí“no one leaves home unlesshome is the mouth of a shark” - Warsan Shire For as long as I can remember, there has been a power tussle between the ruling class and the common people in Nigeria. As a child I heard stories of...
The Girl Who Is Afraid of Everything – Chisom Nwaezuoke
The Girl Who Is Afraid of Everything Chisom Nwaezuoke The time is 3am. The electricity is still out, and the rain is threatening to fall again. I have decided to call it a night after watching three episodes of the Netflix series New Amsterdam. The show is about a...
Misaligned Stars – Christy Ogbenjuwa
Misaligned Stars Christy OgbenjuwaI have been sick since I was born, but who would have thought it? I wouldn't have known if I had never tried to model, or rather, I wouldn't have known as early as I did if I had never tried to become a model. I tried to venture into...
Just a Friend – Edwin Chege
Just a Friend Edwin ChegeIt was about midnight when she texted: I’m with Hera, but I’m thinking of ditching her. I want to come over to yours. I’m only five minutes away. Moments later I heard a knock on my door. That was fast, I thought. I opened the door to Caren...
This Is What the Darkness Taught Me – Mofiyinfoluwa Okupe
This Is What the Darkness Taught Me Mofiyinfoluwa Okupei This darkness obliterates even the memory of tenderness. There are no caresses here. No embraces to ward off the pain. All you will have is the fading memory of softness. Here in this place, all you will find...
This Is Only the Beginning – Busamoya Phodiso Modirwa
This Is Only the Beginning Busamoya Phodiso Modirwa 1. I am aware of the piercing dark eyes behind me – their heavy gaze fixated on my every move. When I walk through the corridors, they trail behind, lurking. I have never seen them, but the same way I know my shadow...
Imagine Massawa – Saba Sebhatu
Imagine Massawa Saba SebhatuA fire is beginning to crack throughout the sky, day turning into an unnatural night; through thickets of smoke, the wind wrestles with the flora left on the ground. What was bright green turns into a scorched patch of earth. Shots fire...
Notes on a Plane – Siyanda Mohutsiwa
Notes on a Plane Siyanda MohutsiwaFrom all available evidence, the man sitting beside me was a Frenchman. He was one of a pair of middle-aged European men who’d descended on my aisle brandishing EU passports and little English. They spoke to each other in bursts and...
I’m Toni and I Approve This Message – K.E. Mullins
I’m Toni and I Approve This Message K.E. MullinsThere was a certain eeriness to the night, but I didn’t catch what it was, perhaps that sixth sense you fail to acknowledge. I failed. Epically. Let my mom tell it. I’d proven myself to be a true Mack or Williams or...
Everywhere You Go, There You Are – Thulani Angoma-Mzini
Everywhere You Go, There You Are A Review of Rémy Ngamije’s The Eternal Audience of One Thulani Angoma-MziniWe know much less than we think we do. We can hardly tell in real time which parts of our unfolding lives are good news and which are bad news. Not until right...