New short fiction about a place, a family and child trauma — from Bibiana Ossai — Summer 2009 Helena watched her mommy, Adaure, style her hair with chapped fingers in their house in Makoko. She often heard the people call it the Venice of Lagos, the nightmare of a fantasy and a hellhole. A city with its spine located on the coast of mainland Lagos. And…

Poems about self-discovery and loss — from Marial Awendit — An Egg and a River Am I the best candidate to throw A boiled egg into the Nile? I remember breaking A gourd full of water, In the face of thirst, in 1999. I did not intend that, yet I flinched from serrated leaves Flying around my assembly. The council commissioned To hurricane away my…

An essay on the joys of love and selfhood — by Abigail George I was loved and then I was not loved. I was admired then not admired at all. That is the journey of love that I traveled on for two years. The man transformed my life. My life and its primary intensity. Life must flow through you. On the days when…

The two pithy poems paints the hurtful journey of a country and its brutalized citizens — from South Sudanese Adut Loi Akok — A Country Itself Can Represent a Sad Poem A country itself can represent a sad poem If its flag is dominated by bloody colours, And rule by paunchy leaders. I know you’ll never understand how it feels to journey with a hordes of brutal zombies Wild as an angry Chimpanzee Wild as Panthers and Nile crocodile Alas! …

Poetry on anarchy, existential tropes, travails and odysseys — from Osieka Osinimu Alao — Ancestry of Burning how do we/ measure the joules/ of civilisation/ if we always have to give our bones/ to bolster its crippled spine/ a body of missing bones grovels on the verge of a magicless voyage/ every scar/ a gamete of memory/ in this city/ of wayward croons/ where poniards pave/ a paradise of annelids/ where pyres masquerade/…

Two fresh poems from South African Carla Chait — Never Passed A poem about the writers mother A past immersed: our midnight hours tallied together. History soaking dreamily… First steeped then released onto a street of strangers. Change, suffering, sometimes love — Sleet among the songs. Stumbling forward along a sword — streaming with others, trading secrets, stories of woe — Between, the murmur of her echoes along a…

If Dawn had her way, the film King Kong would never be released and she was determined to tell the world why — by Shane Pillay — King Kong was released during Christmas season of 2005. It was the third remake of the simian story - ● 1993 with Fay Wray ● 1976 with Jessica Lange ● 2005 with Naomi Watts Fresh from the success of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, director Peter Jackson settled on…

Four poems about love, abuse and irreparable loss — from Adėlèké — Imposter Notes remember that evening, just about twenty-three zero-four PM I had my cold text in your Instagram inbox pursued by my chivalric humor did my magic, you told me how you were sheepishly smiling at your phone till dawn the ignition turned on, the flickers of pink flames, scorched your hard girl…

An essay from Nigerian Abdullahi D. Hassan — “Be careful with girls. Do not let them steal your heart away”. My mother would say. I cannot say she could read minds, but I was sure she could read mine. Graceful, beautiful, and soft-spoken, northern girls were my biggest weakness. It wasn’t my fault as I always say, I…