April 2024

End NYSC Already

Doyin Olagunju·April 14, 2024

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) began as a conciliatory post-war programme aimed at nation-building. But now, it is a softer, but no less punitive drafting system with adverse consequences on young people and Nigeria’s finances. Read More...

April/May 2024 Nigeria

7 African Books Every Food Lover Should Read

Peace Yetunde Onafuye·April 14, 2024

In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of seven African books for every food lover. These books explore food across Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Senegal, Ethiopia, as well as the African diaspora. Read More...

April/May 2024 Read Something African Reading

‘I Know a Poem Is Complete When I Am Both Unsettled and at Peace’ Theresa Lola’s First Draft

Theresa Lola·April 12, 2024

Nigerian poet and author of In Search of Equilibrium, Theresa Lola, believes a poem is complete when she is both unsettled and at peace. Read More...

April/May 2024 First Draft Interviews Nigeria

‘It Is Not Feminism If It Is Not Political’

Wale Lawal·April 6, 2024

The co-founder and executive director of feminist movement, Feminists in Kenya, discusses convening Kenya’s anti-femicide protests of January 2024 and what needs to happen next. Read More...

April/May 2024 Interviews Kenya

Remembering Kampala

Carey Baraka·April 6, 2024

For much of the sixties, Kampala was at the centre of literature in Africa, its status propelled by Makerere University and Rajat Neogy’s Transition Magazine. However, in the seventies, the violence of Idi Amin forced intellectuals and artists to flee the Ugandan capital and led to the end of Kampala’s cultural dominance in Africa. Read More...

April/May 2024 Best of 2024: Essays Uganda vol8-no3

Haile Selassie I and Pan-African Diplomacy

Kai Mora·April 6, 2024

Perhaps a latecomer to pan-African ideology, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I was nevertheless unique in his contribution to pan-Africanism. He urged all those working for a united global Africa to consider pan-Africanism as not an end unto itself, but an indispensable means toward a broader horizon of a new humanity free from imperialism and exploitation. Read More...

Africa April/May 2024 Ethiopia

A Whirlwind of Fractured Sisterhood and Dysfunctional Families

Kikachi Memeh·April 6, 2024

In her second novel, Nightbloom, Peace Adzo Medie uses issues associated with womanhood and family dynamics to speak to larger societal issues in Ghana. Read More...

April/May 2024 Ghana Reading

7 African Literary Classics You Should Add to Your Reading List

Peace Yetunde Onafuye·April 6, 2024

In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of seven African literary classics you should add to your reading list. From the poignant exploration of post-colonial life to the intimate portrayal of personal struggles and triumphs, these books signify the essence of African storytelling. Read More...

April/May 2024 Read Something African Reading

Our Podcast Is on the One World Media Awards Longlist

The Republic·April 6, 2024

Our self-titled podcast, The Republic, has been nominated for the 2024 One World Media Awards under the Podcast and Radio category. Read More...

April/May 2024 Dispatch

‘Poetry Is Political’ Safia Elhillo’s First Draft

Safia Elhillo·April 5, 2024

Sudanese poet, Safia Elhillo, feels very differently now about the idea of belonging than she did at the time of writing her award-winning collection, The January Children. Looking back, she was ‘so concerned with a sort of diasporic longing that centered nationhood and nationality as the primary sites of belonging, and I just really don’t believe that anymore.’ Read More...

April/May 2024 First Draft Interviews Sudan

Month: April 2024