A few deaths have rocked my world lately – notably Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Umberto Eco – but none felt so personal as Walcott’s. The first instinct, after the shock of Akin Adesokan’s retweet of Jeanne-Marie Jackson’s tweet, was …
Nonfiction
Historical Echoes: The Literature of Hausa Women by Sada Malumfashi
Credit: “Malouma” by Isabel Fiadeiro, from the Solitude Issue.
1. Tatsuniya (Storytelling)
950 A.D.
Old Kano,
(Modern Day Northern Nigeria)
Habi hurries to finish her chores to join the circle of children already pestering Grandmother for a story. …
The Curious Case of Nigerian Literary Ambition
In my third year in University of Ibadan, Rancho and his band of merry brothers in 3 Idiots were the patron saints of all pretentious students, which was about ninety-five percent of the faculty of technology, and seventy percent of …
Ajuwaya Story
So I saw these Ajuwayas today in their green khakis and the sight sent me down memory lane to the day I was to leave NYSC Camp at Umudi-Nkwerre, Imo State. Coming to terms with destiny to serve in Imo …
Fotoan-gasy
Trying to Understand the Increasingly Forgotten Malagasy Art of Waiting and Making Wait
Imagine a group of Malagasy. Let’s say that they agree to meet and talk about some important stuff tomorrow morning at 10:00. In all likelihood, people will …
Time Passes
March 2016,
Holy Thursday
Everyone thinks there may be a long break from work, say one week or something slightly more. But we receive an email from HR, and this email says we shall be observing only the nationally declared …
A Font Defines Me
Writers are narcissists. Obsessed with themselves and their thoughts. Human beings and the events surrounding them are all material for the writer. Pain and joy are exploited equally.
After much thinking on my company’s time, I have come to an …
My Year in Reading
Early in 2016, the year began to shed its ability to stun me. The world was burning differently, a relentless blaze that licked up across continents, making me consume my news feed in smaller morsels. With each headline, the gap …
“Every Story Has a Soul of Its Own” – In Conversation with Suzanne Ushie
SUZANNE USHIE talks about her story which was published as a fiction supplement for our upcoming issue. She also expresses her views on publishing in Africa, sexism at work place, gender equality advocacy, and her writing life – Kemi Falodun …
Let’s Talk About Something Else — An Excerpt
By Suzanne Ushie—
Two months to the day Uzilibe’s boss groped her, she emptied her drawers and cleared her desk. As her colleagues trooped into her cubicle to say goodbye, she wondered which version of the story they’d heard. The …