Stories and Poems

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Features, Stories and Poems, Submission 2018/05/31

A Nonrequired Guide to Writing Love Stories | Olakunle Ologunro

FIRST, YOU NEED to have a girl. Call her Chimkasi. It means God is Great, but only a few people will bother remembering that. People like names whose meanings they don’t remember. They would go, “Chimkasi? That’s Igbo, right? Oh I love Igbo names! What does it mean?” But only twenty percent will remember what […]

Armageddon Summer | Megan Ross | From Milk Fever Poetry Collection

South African writer Megan Ross debuted her poetry collection earlier this month. The collection, Milk Fever, is published by Uhlanga Press, an independent Cape Town-based press known for publishing Koleka Putuma’s bestselling poetry collection Collective Amnesia. Enjoy this poem from the collection. Armageddon Summer “Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears, even if the […]

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Features, Stories and Poems 2018/05/14

Brooklyn Joy | Gbenga Adesina | Poetry

See the Eastern Bluebirds, that have known far wintering grounds. Their orange-breasted dance and alert posture in the trees with fruits. The Yellow orchids that spring at the base of these trees, an applause of colors to the birds, that they find a way to stay alive. It’s May, and I, too, have found a […]

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Features, Lit Scene, Stories and Poems 2018/05/13

On the Brunel Prize, MFAs, and Africa-Based Poets | Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera

THE BRUNEL International African Poetry Prize has come and gone and has unveiled to the world a new set of voices. Many of this Prize’s previous winners have gone on to establish themselves as formidable voices on the global scene. Warsan Shire’s haunting poems have found their way into Beyonce’s Lemonade album; Safia Elhillo’s work has […]

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Features, Lit Scene, Stories and Poems, Submission 2018/05/11

Facebook Writers and Other Trivia | Alaaka Tobi

1. For Facebook, it is definitely not the best of times. Even in my decision to not participate in the merry-go-round of sensational news reports, and the ensuing banality of commentary and mass hysteria, one can still sense that there is something in the air, something about leaked personal data, an ethical breach, whatever, but […]

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Features, Stories and Poems, Submission 2018/05/07

Girl on Drugs | Victor Daniel | Fiction

“So, you’re going out tonight?” you ask as you watch her pull one end of the twine tightened around her arm with her other hand while the other end is held by her clenched teeth. “Nope,” she says, examining her hand for veins. “For real?” She looks at you briefly, her brows knotting. Then she […]

To Betray the Nation, They Betrayed You First | Mukoma Wa Ngugi

(for Winnie Mandela) Because you were born Winnie Madikizela but died Winnie Mandela and you knew your real DOB was 1912 when the ANC was born Because you knew the steel in your bones did not come from your husband but from struggle, and you kept the struggle alive when the dream was jailed […]

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Features, Stories and Poems 2018/04/06

My Name Is Ojwiny | George Ocen | Fiction

In 2012, the Centre for African Cultural Excellence (CACE) based in Kampala, Uganda, launched Writivism — an initiative that identifies, mentors and promotes emerging Africa-based writers, and hosts an annual literary festival in Kampala. In 2017, Writivism celebrated its fifth anniversary and to celebrate this milestone, the initiative, in partnership with the University of Bristol, […]