In November 2008, while students of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Emmanuel Iduma and Dami Ajayi began to have conversations about emerging writing in Nigeria, and Africa. By February 2009, they published the first issue of Saraba Magazine, guest edited by poet Jumoke Verissimo, and including the work of now-acclaimed Nigerian writers Uche Peter Umez, Elnathan John, and many more. Subsequent editions would include the work of Tolu Ogunlesi, Chika Unigwe, Keguro Macharia, Sokari Ekine, Dominique Malaquais, Ayobami Adebayo, Victor Ehikhamenor, Eghosa Imasuen, Jumoke Verissimo, Clifton Gachagua, Ukamaka Olisakwe, Okwiri Oduor, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, and Tade Ipadeola.
From the beginning, Saraba has emphasized the importance of publishing writers for the first time, and how by this venture such new writers may find confidence in their crafts. The Magazine has, by virtue of the worldwide web, grown in leaps, and regular contributions now pour in from the rest of the continent.
The goal remains to create unending voices by publishing the finest emerging writers, with a bias for Nigeria, and Africa. In recent editions of the magazine, attention has also been given to the work of emerging visual artists, including photographers, illustrators, and visual artists in general.
