If a Bird Wishes to Fly – Adaeze M. Nwadike
If a Bird Wishes to Fly Adaeze M. Nwadike I was at the climax of my adolescence when I had my menarche. I did not tell my mother. I was too shy to mention to anyone that womanhood had come upon me; that I was beginning to ripen and soon, a man would pluck me like...
A Smuggler’s Story – Esther Eze
A Smuggler’s Story Esther Eze“Mummy, Ijeoma o, ahia oma o.” I am repeating the prayers my sisters flung behind my mother and me just before we left the house this morning. Our driver hits a pothole – sending me down from my mother’s lap – as he swerves to avoid...
The Daily Chaos of an Anxious Life – Rockebah C Stewart
The Daily Chaos of an Anxious Life Rockebah C StewartSometimes, I look back at my life at eighteen and wonder: if I knew the struggles that were ahead, would I have made the same decisions? Would I have remained in Grenada, satisfied with only an Associate Degree?...
For the Shell of a Woman – Timi Odueso
For the Shell of a Woman Timi OduesoYou grow up watching your grandmother waddle. Not in the humorous way penguins move with their hands plastered to their sides and their heads pushed forward, but in an arduous way – one that presses her soles deep into the rubber...
Do You Remember? – Mercy Mkhana Simiyu
Do You Remember?Mercy Mkhana Simiyu We meet every Thursday to dance and type furiously in the comments section. The DJ is spinning records from his basement in Delaware, his phone camera perched up high but trained on him and his equipment. His Facebook page is the...
The Burden of Loss – Nzube Ifechukwu
The Burden of Loss Nzube Ifechukwu 22 July, 2014I came in with Olisa that evening, a rucksack strapped to his back, to find Ọlụa on the phone, pacing up and down. From the inflections of his voice and his choice of words I could tell it was a family member...
Maaza Mengiste’s The Shadow King Is a Powerful War Song – Fifi Bat-hef
Maaza Mengiste’s The Shadow King Is a Powerful War Song Fifi Bat-hef “She does not want to remember but she is here and memory is gathering bones.”Maaza Mengiste’s second novel tells the story of the second Italo-Ethiopian war when Italy invaded Ethiopia...
Things We See on the Road – Zenas Ubere
Things We See on the Road Zenas Ubere I had visited the Onitsha International Textile Market and was now in a minivan heading back to Imo. I sat in the front passenger seat, so I could see the city properly as I left. It was my first time in Onitsha, this...
Sister, Sister – Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu
Sister, Sister Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu On the day my sister got married, I found myself occupying an emotional space similar to the one I felt years ago, when I stood over her fresh-out-of-surgery body; panicky, sad, wanting desperately to keep her safe and...
Good Boy – Aress Mohamed
Good Boy Aress Mohamed My mother used to shave me as a young boy, and I hated it. She would also shave my elder brother Issa. At the time, this was the late 1990s, there were no barbershops in our village, Bula Adaan, and the only barbershops were in the...