Editors’ Note
In our third issue, you’ll find Efiko’s first stab at publishing criticism that engages with African writing today via one of its most recognisable awarding platforms. Published before that platform announced its current honoree, the piece accurately predicted the outcome. But there are no literary prizes for prophecy, so the piece’s real value is its seriousness, its commitment to critical thought.
Small Bills: Notes On The 2023 Caine Prize Shortlist
By Ernest Ògúnyẹmí | Essay
It is 2017 and I’ve just returned from school. I sit on the doorstep of my distraught-looking hostel, reading Arinze Ifeakandu’s “God’s Children Are Little Broken Things”,…
Instant Coffee
By Amanda Nechesa | Fiction
You grow up in this interior village in Kakamega, and the only time you hear the word coffee is when you’re playing the rope game of tea and coffee. Two girls swing the rope on each side, singing in Swahili:…
The Journeyman
By Khanya Mtshali | Peotry
He brought an honesty to work deemed unskilled and menial. A self-respect that towered over the egos of overlords occupying fancy positions, in a hierarchy of thanklessness. He had to work.
A Glimpse of the Kasi Life
By Yandisa Krobani | Fiction
The township is a place of unity. People rescue and aid each other for they’ve subscribed to the adage that a hand washes the other. One hand cannot properly wash itself.
Joy is Coming
By Jimoh Abdullah | Poetry
& though I have lived so long in darkness, tonight I climb out of the cave to look up at the moonlit sky who sees me first and smiles. God knows, happiness and the sky long to see me…
My Father Renamed Himself
By Nurain Ọládèjì | Poetry
A child’s need to be chased, to hide and be found time and again, is why my father is the ghost stalking my dreams. When I was a child, hunting for where to hide and wait for my friends…
Portraiture of Belief Eating at the Flesh of a Man’s Reasoning
Musa Abduljalal Aliyu | Peotry
My brother, held tight to his belief like a limpet holding onto algae, chewing it off a hard rock. So when he joined Boko Haram, we…
Music Is The Balm That Soothes The Soul
By Ezioma Kalu | Fiction
Heartbreak is painful, sure, I believe. But have you ever plugged your phone at night with the conviction it’d be completely charged by dawn,…
A First Son Responds To An Ebonyi Man’s Violence
By Ewa Gerald Onyebuchi |Essay
“Nigerian men, fear them. They are wicked. Wicked! Especially Igbo men. They can be at home or at a friend’s place drinking…
Which Way Is Forward?
By Akìgbógun Olúwatúnmiṣe Michael | Fiction
“Grief is a most peculiar thing; we’re so helpless in the face of it. It’s like a window that will simply open of its own accord…
