To mark our seventh anniversary in 2017, Brittle Paper hosted a conversation on its Facebook page. Themed “Un-Silencing Queer Nigeria: The Language of Emotional Truth,” it featured 14 editor-in-chief and Caine Prize 2017 finalist Arinze Ifeakandu, Brunel Prize 2017 winner Romeo Oriogun, Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2017 finalist Kelechi Njoku, and 14 editor Laura Ahmed, and was moderated by our deputy editor Otosirieze Obi-Young. Their insightful conversation centered on the representation and humanization of queerness in Nigerian and African literatures.

This Friday, 27 September, Brittle Paper will anchor an extension of that conversation at the Lambda Literary Festival. Our two panels will feature the American journalist and former senior editor at Out magazine Anne-christine d’Adesky, our founder Ainehi Edoro, the novelist and curator Unoma Azuah, the poet Itiola Jones, and Ifeakandu.

Ahead of this, we are pleased to kick off #QueerYourAfricanRead, an online campaign that focuses on African writing which humanizes queerness—and seeks to provide visibility and support for queer writers in the digital space.

#QueerYourAfricanRead will officially run until 14 October. Over the next three weeks, we will be:

  • highlighting key moments in writing by queer Africans
  • sharing Brittle Paper’s archive of work on LGBTQ experiences, including published fiction and poetry, anthologies, book announcements, reviews, and interviews
  • sharing highlights of our panel at the Lambda LitFest
  • Twitterchats with notable queer writers
  • launching a Twitter and Instagram contest 

Our goal is to share with you our appreciation of the legacy and work of African writers who have humanized queerness. Join us by sharing your reads on Instagram or Twitter using #QueerYourAfricanRead; we will highlight those on our Insta/Twitter feed!