Benin Empire | Brittle Paper

Tag Archives: Benin Empire

Features January 7, 2016

Greetings, Ile Ife | by Oka Benard Osahon | African Poetry

Thee, ancient kingdom!! Thrice gifted. Father to the hills and the moat! Created of sand and cockerel scratch. The past sinks with claws Into the soul of the present, As thy sights splash across. The priest king seeking Ifa’s face, Slashed thrice by fate, Nodding the beaded head To the dance of masquerades; Feet shackled […]

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Stories and Poems April 27, 2011

The Benin Documents: Tutuola’s Demons

I entered the city on some business involving a Portuguese trader and a cloth weaver who was defaulting on payments of a loan. A child of the river, cities made me uneasy and insomniac. One night, I decided to take a walk. My hired factotum had assured me the stream was barely 2000 paces from […]

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Features June 5, 2020

Kwame Dawes’s “Yard Boy”: A Powerful Poem for Our Moment

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Kwame Dawes recently wrote a poem titled “Yard Boy” that speaks to the recent events surrounding the death of George […]

Features June 4, 2020

Teju Cole’s Spotify Playlists Offer Musical Solace for These Times

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Among Teju Cole’s many talents is his ability to curate music that captures a mood or even the feel of […]

Features June 3, 2020

Petina Gappah to Write Play About the Censorship History of Dambudzo Marechera’s Novel Black Sunlight

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Petina Gappah recently announced that she was writing a play that focuses on “the 1982 banning and unbanning” of Dambudzo […]

Features June 3, 2020

Oh, Blessed Bri’Land | Jedah Mayberry | Fiction

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Bri’Land glistened at me, her brilliant display of pink sand shimmering in delight. It would seem that I had finally, […]

Features June 3, 2020

Books That Go with Wine and Books That Don’t

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The beverages most associated with reading are tea and coffee. But many readers love to cozy up in bed with […]

Features June 3, 2020

In This House | Inok Rosemary | Poetry

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In this house, we sift our words, Never letting the walls hear what they shouldn’t. The fear of their […]