Lesley Nneka Arimah was born in the UK and grew up mostly in Nigeria. Her story, “Light,” won the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa Region and another story, “Glory,” won a 2017 O.Henry Prize. She is the recipient of grants and awards from Commonwealth Writers, AWP, the Elizabeth George Foundation, and the Jerome Foundation. Her […]
Tag Archives: Socrates Mbamalu
African Literary Digest: 9 Must-Reads from March, 2017
Every month, we compile a list of reads from around the Internet that we find illuminating. For January, we chose eight pieces. For February, we picked fourteen pieces. For March, we have settled on nine. They include fiction pieces that we believe are among the best we will see this year, essays that are strong contributions […]
African Literary Digest: 14 Must-Reads from February, 2017
Every month, we compile a list of reads from around the internet that we find illuminating. For January, we chose eight pieces. For February, we have fourteen items. They include non-fiction, fiction, essays, speeches, and even tweets. While numbered, this list is unranked. *** 1. “Since Everything Was Suddening into a Hurricane” | By Binyavanaga Wainaina | Granta | Non-fiction […]
“To a Limitless 2017!” | Socrates Mbamalu’s Honest and Inspiring Message About the Writing Hustle
The dream of becoming a writer is a beautiful dream. But the journey to achieving that dream can be long, lonely and exhausting. African writers often face the added difficulties of harsh economic conditions, not to mention the scarcity of publishing opportunities. For the vast majority of African writers living on the continent, producing work […]
Dark, Twisted, Amusing | Review of Dami Ajayi’s “Clinical Blues” | Socrates Mbamalu
The recent shortlist of Clinical Blues in the ANA Poetry category confirms Dami Ajayi as a leading poet. The collection is divided into three parts around which is assembled images of the barroom, the hospital, and everything in between. Clinical blues is an ingenious attempt to convert medical tools and barroom tales into poetic statements that hit […]
I hold a doctorate in English from Duke University and recently joined the Marquette University English faculty as an Assistant Professor. I love teaching African fiction and contemporary British novels. Brittle Paper is the virtual space/station where I play and experiment with ideas on how to reinvent African fiction and literary culture.
