Nchanji Melvin Musicians are integral members of society because of the popularity and the power they wield, but the question as to what role they play in society has often been asked. To what end should they put…
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[Poetry] On-Again/Off-Again by Kate Hampton
I/ Me, I Love You Gai, Nai, nakupenda Nakupenda sana, supuu But this love is unhe? Unhealthy You’ve boxed me, and I keep coming back Eh! Nairobi, I surrender You’ve hardened me Are hardening me but I’m not sure…
[Poetry] Bottles Have Become Bibles by Nforche Gerald
I Bottles have become bibles In clench of drunks who babble. Watch their lips quiver Like some flibbertigibbet bastards While shaky hands transport dose after dose Of the sedated beer to shuddering lips. Watch them sing and giggle, watch them…
[Poetry] The Silencer by Sihle Ntuli
Street poles tell the loudest tales. Shining above dim corners on a Durban inner city street A light shines Revealing lips on the butt at the corner of point road To the point where lungs have begun to explode The…
[Poetry] Languaje by Jack Little
Llenar blank leaves of hojas, wrap them tight in silent ayches, yolling ells. [olas de tears] un ojo wrinkles, the other empalagoso [miss you, querida] raquítico armchair, we slide soñolientamente [I can’t say your name] into tomorrow through archos, sloshways,…
[Poetry] Surfacing by Lorena Caputo
Sometimes the waves of depression & despair wash over me Wash beat higher A veces me ahogan A veces me ahogo …. I feel no solid ground beneath these long feet No sand rippled by gently rolling water I am…
Three Poems by Minna Salami
Originally published in an anthology titled ‘IF YU HIE SE A DE PRIZIN’’ (Antoloji of puem-dem fo Naija) edited by Edwin Eriata Oribhabor “Ghost” Man Anoda pesin “ghost” don enta mai bodi A no nou im nem Bot a nou…
Call for Submissions
photo credit: Tabifor King “The intelligentsia have always preferred more refined forms of fiction, such as that longtime French intellectual favorite, the psychological novel.” —Susan Sontag What happens when literary production is confined to the academia and ‘established’ cultural…
Editorial 05
We are constantly reinventing ourselves and, as a magazine, we have grown enamored of long-form creative journalism (or nonfiction), daring to publish online a genre that is more adapted for a print outlet given how easily distracted netizens are with…
In Memoriam: Why Poets Die (for Kofi Awoonor)
Emmanuel Iduma Audience at Kofi Awoonor memorial at the Nairobi Museum (Photo by Paul Munene, Quaint Photography) Let’s assume from the outset that poets die because they stand in the way of politics, and let’s find a way to…
