1. Mother pressed the sweltering blade deeper into my left thigh, ignoring my scream this time. The blood was a thin streak of bluish-red. She sighed and wiped it off my thigh with her fingers. She raised my breasts…
Nigeria on a Leaf
Howard M-B Maximus reviews ofada rice and wonders why one finds jollof rice everywhere in Nigerian literature, but hardly any reference to ofada rice.
Books and Palm Wine at AkeFest 2017
Following Ake wherever Ake goes, TJ Benson chronicles snippets of the 2017 edition of one of the biggest literary festivals in Africa.
You Unknotted the Calculus of the World
Awogbemila Temitope Ayodeji Axiom i: where x is the world. Integrable derivatives – I, you, two mp3 players and Mobutu * Four of us were shadows of ourselves, The world breathes in multiples of four. Axiom ii:…
Q & A with TJ Benson on Mental Illness, “1985”, and Stigmatization
Bakwa Staff Writer Uzoma Ihejirika caught up with TJ Benson, 2016 Short Story Day Africa first runner-up winner, whose story ‘Tea’ crawled all over the internet.
Q & A with Roy Udeh-Ubaka on love, identity and power
Bakwa staff writer, Uzoma Ihejirika, got into conversation with Roy Udeh-Ubaka, whose first short story “A Certain Kind of Longing” was published in Bakwa Magazine, to discuss love, identity and power, and the inspiration behind the story.
A Certain Kind of Longing
In his first short story to be published, Roy weaves the intricacies of relationship issues, as experienced by the narrator, and by the latter’s aunt, into a beautiful juxtaposition that portrays two people’s differing approaches to love.
1985
TJ Benson explores mental illness in a haunting and beautiful story which explores the relationship between a man and his wife and how they both navigate through it. Morning When he opens his eyes it is 1985, the room…
Three Poems by Echezonachukwu Nduka
An Old Man in Conversation Out of this near empty street comes an old man who, when asked his age, says age is nothing but shadows and lost tongues. He has lived his past years drinking in…
The Sound of Things to Come and the Smallness of the World
Uzoma Ihejirika There is a saying that the world is a small place, that there is always someone who knows someone who knows us. Ours, we have come to believe, is a far-flung, yet close by neighborhood. In The Sound…