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Stephen King’s Bra, Literary Booze, and a Spellacious Watermark
Some literary fun to get your Friday off to a smooth and cheerful start. You don’t have to be a literary nerd to find these images sweetly comical! All five images are featured in Buzzfeed’s “The 26...
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Pidgin English: A Language of Flowery metaphors, Slangs and Jokes | Q&A with...
In official linguistic circles, the language is called West African Pidgin English. It came into being on the coast of Guinea in the 17th century when British merchants succeeded the Dutch as the...
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The Science of African Sex! Why We Love Jalada’s New Collection
Every once in a while, stories come along that surprise critics and readers who claim to know African literature. Jalada’s recent compilation about sex strikes me as that kind of work. Jalada Africa...
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Would You Read the Bible if it Were a Novel?
There is a part of me that is a bit sad about the waning popularity of the bible in popular discourse. In many African spaces, the bible continues to be an influential text shaping the lives of many....
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Africa’s Mad and Most Loved Emperor | Chaka by Thomas Mofolo | A Book Review
If you’re reading this, you are about to join me on a trip to an early moment in African literary history. Thomas Mofolo‘s Chaka is a novel languishing in the dark, airless pit of the African literary...
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What’s Weird about Teju Cole Claiming A Shakespearean Heritage?
Teju Cole’s recent New Yorker essay is a timely and engaging piece. Not surprising. On Facebook today he writes, “I gave this piece my all.” The essay is about blackness and estrangement. Responding...
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From Road Nipple to Eating Insects: Silly Things African Writers Only Say on...
Nnedi Okorafor asks us to eat more insects. Taiye Selasi in Bikini. Zakes Mda is not impressed by Beyonce. Efemia Chela opines on Nikki Minaj’s anaconda dance. Sarah Lotz opens up on her “killer...
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“Fatigue of Ordinariness”| Identity by Onomarie Uriri | A Poem
She tried to follow the flock and go with the wind But in her blue-speckled, red-splattered, green-hued coat, she clashed. Stark and different, she stood out. She bumped against many, flew alongside...
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Resounding Voices from Cameroon | Review of Bakwa Magazine by Georgina...
Georgina Mexía-Amador As a Mexican writer, I do not find it hard to review a magazine such as Bakwa because I acknowledge, in the first place, the long-held ties between my country and specific...
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Conceptual Analysis of M. I. Abaga’s King James
The world of music is a game of thrones, right? And you play to win or die. If there’s anyone who knows the truth of this statement, it’s M. I. In his latest single, titled “King James,” he speaks...
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What Zadie Smith’s Mom Taught Me About Bridget Jones
During a conversation about strong female characters, Zadie Smith tells Chimamanda Adichie a story about her mother’s reaction to Bridget Jones Diary. Somebody once very unwisely gave my mom a copy of...
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That Dress Though | Chimamanda at the 2014 Farafina Literary Evening
Chimamanda Adichie wore this floor-length white-leopard-patterned dress to the 2014 Farafina Literary Evening held at the Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos. The event officially brought the...
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Madame Kiru’s Boudoir | A Selection of African Romance Novels by Kiru Taye
If you read only mainstream African novelists like Adichie, Selasi, and company, chances are that you’re entirely unaware of a thriving African indie romance scene. At the center of this scene is...
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“Brooklyn, Where Shadows Are Welcome”| Freckled by Kiah | A Love Story
The crying has stopped and for that above all else, I am thankful. I thought it would never end. I am beyond grateful that it finally did. I walk on egg shells, saying little, for fear that my words...
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Seven Letters to a Poet From Another Time | by Kechi Nomu | A Poem
I Art will not survive in a house like this… II A dictator sits on a terrace chair and considers the years; he lets the soothing Shabaz wash over him and the forgiveness of wine III A poet awakens...
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What Does Your Favorite African Novel Say About You?
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe You are a vintage soul. You like old things. Stories about lost, ruined worlds is your favorite kind of tragedy. While you’re not entirely nostalgic, the past does...
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How To Be an Acceptable Wife | by Ola Nubi | A Story
You see — as soon as I saw you approaching the house carrying all your load on your back like a tortoise, I knew that you had disgraced us in your husband’s house. Did I not train you to be an...
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EVENT: Aminatta Forna and E.C. Osondu in New York City
For those in New York, here is a free, high-profile literary event to mark on your calendars. Scottish Sierra Leonean novelist Aminatta Forna who is also a Windham Campbell Prize winner and Nigerian...
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Dear Ms. Paper: Can I Dump Him For Not Knowing Who Achebe Is?
Dear Ms. Paper: I recently graduated from University of Lagos with a first-class degree in History. I completed my National Youth Service two months ago and landed a sweet consulting job right after...
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N. Bulawayo on Literary Success, Giving Back, and Writivism | Interviewed by...
Noviolet Bulawayo. Author of We Need New Names. Zimbabwe NoViolet Bulawayo is a Zimbabwean author and Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Her debut novel We Need New Names was released in 2013 and...
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