Za! magazine published its debut issue titled the “Juju Issue” on July 7. The issue focuses on different kinds of spirituality in Northern and North-central Nigeria apart from the more visible Abrahamic religions.

Za! is published by Za! Publications, a company founded by writer and visual artist TJ Benson. It is a biannual magazine aiming to publish and curate experimental art.

In the Juju issue, Northern Nigerian spiritualities are compared with contemporary Abrahamic religions. Eloghosa Osunde’s gorgeous visual art decorates the cover of the issue.

Writers like Carl Terver, Blessing Tarfa and Pwaangulongii Daoud examine heredity in the context of spirituality, considering the inevitable tensions with contemporary religions and attempts to navigate constantly changing societal norms with what has been passed to them through ancestry. Poets like Hauwa Shaffii and fiction writers like Elnathan John contribute revelatory work that illuminate the question of superstition in our increasing urban world.

The Juju issue will be released in print and distributed worldwide and in bookstores like Rovingheights and Spine&Label, and art salons like 16 x16 in Lagos and Open Arts Foundation in Kaduna.

Za! will also feature an accompanying supplement “Jara’”and special issue that will be announced soon. The Jara Supplement for this issue include a review of Khadija Abdalla’s award winning House of Rust and long-form interviews with renowned writers like Abubakar Adam Ibrahim as well as contemporary visual artists.

The second issue themed “Rituals “is forthcoming December 2023. More information about Za! can be found on the website, Twitter and Instagram.