Editors’ Note
Our 4th edition goes across Africa: to Lagos, Harare, Enugu, Maputo, Abuja, and at least one airport. We have prizewinning writers, mid-career talents, and incoming marvels. A writer rides through Lagos in danfos, the city’s storied vehicles of chaos. An essay traces the history of a troubled people. A poet considers the amorphous baggage of travel...
In this Issue
Tony was a divorcee and men like that often had no qualms about walking away a second time. His first wife was a White lady and they had two children together.
Pai Nosso
By Bolanle Alashe | Poetry
Perhaps, you will discover what your daughters did with their bodies…
Nothing To Declare
By Tolu Ogunlesi | Poetry
In the days to come your dreams will collide
with deadlines, as you pursue meaning
across dusty heatscapes imbued with hustle.
Cracks Tend To Widen
By Munachimso Ochiabutor | Fiction
“Doctor, what you’re saying isn’t possible. My wife is AS and I am AA.”
Will This Time Be Different For You?
By Mubanga Kalimamukwento | Essay
So, when the Electoral Commission of Zambia announces a name other than the one they had ticked X on in the ballot box, you stir.
No Peace In A Lagos Bus
By Zulaikhah Oyíndàmọ́lá Àgòrò | Essay
Ọbaníbàshírí is a special, limited-edition remedy for bad-luck, and it will only set you back ₦200. All you need is a bottle of Mirinda or Fanta at any temperature. Not Coca-Cola…
To J.P. Clark, On Ibadan
By Zenas Ubere | Essay
When I remember you, the image that comes to mind is one where you are mid-stride, with Achebe and Soyinka, on your way to see Babangida…
maputo
By Zama Madinana | Poetry
maputo, i am not ready to go back
to that freezing johannesburg.
The Flowers Don’t Bloom In Winter
By Valerie Tendai Chatindo | Fiction
Sure, they cheated with the slay Queens but when it came down to the real business, they needed to feel that their money was safe…
Blac’ Tax
By Chizitere Madeleine Nwaemesi | Fiction
I don’t mind that he pesters younger women for sex or seduce them with neat naira bundles and expensive scents…
ANGOLA
By Niran Okewole | Poetry
I am a poet living in a kibbutz, hallucinating
the annoyance of an itinerant tailor…
A Different Kind Of Bliss
By Nzube Ifechukwu | Fiction
Her mother told her that her father was angry and considered Okon a congenital cheat…
Suffering Is Literature’s Big Game
By Chimezie Chika | Essay
In my own Igbo culture, human suffering is believed to be an integral component of life…