For years at The Republic, we’ve explored the ideas shaping African life through essays, criticism and nuanced reportage. However, some stories don’t arrive within the walls of critical thought and in-depth analysis. Some arrive in other imaginative ways, through characters who won’t leave your mind and may, at times, blur the lines between make-believe and reality.

That’s why we’re thrilled to share this news: fiction has officially arrived at The Republic.

To lead this new direction, we’re honoured to welcome literary trailblazer, Chigozie Obioma, as our inaugural fiction editor. A two-time Booker Prize finalist and the author of acclaimed novels, The Fishermen, An Orchestra of Minorities and The Road to the Country, Obioma is one of the most visionary writers of our time. He joins us not just as an editor, but as a believer in what fiction can do, especially within the African context.

According to The Republic’s editor-in-chief, Wale Lawal:

A few years ago, a reader described us as ‘a Nigerian literary magazine who…insist on their right to be universal.’ I’ve always held on to that statement, believing that fiction has that unique power of interrogating our universal conditions. What we’re building with our fiction segment is not simply another outlet for African writing, but a platform for the most imaginative thinking the world has to offer. At The Republic, we’ve nurtured a strong reputation for housing serious journalism, but there are things only a story can reveal. Inviting fiction into our editorial house felt like the next natural step. Having Chigozie lead this was an easy decision. Beyond his literary excellence, what stood out to me in our conversations was his interest in nurturing and promoting African writers who are liberated from the confines of genre, geography and fads, and insist on their right to question the presumed mainstream. I think often about how the Nobel Laureate, Toni Morrison, explained her writing as an African American, as an exercise in standing at the border and claiming it as central. We’ve set ourselves the ambitious task of recentring literature around Africa and we couldn’t have asked for a better guide.

 When asked about the key catalyst that led him to join the team, Obioma said: ‘The Republic’s vision to create knowledge that explores Nigeria and the African Diaspora in a serious way, alongside its gorgeous design, places it in a unique cultural space that profoundly sparks my curiosity.’

About the strategy for his editorial direction, Obioma explained that he plans to champion fiction that is authentic, enduring and timeless: 

I want to give a voice to fiction that is untrammelled and unguarded in its exploration of the world and humanity, and does not submit to fads and ideologies. This fiction desk will have a variety of styles and see its language—whatever the language is—as a canvas, rather than merely as a vehicle for transmitting information. And finally, it will be fiction that stays in the mind long after it has been read.

In Obioma’s eyes, ‘every story needs to be told.’ The fundamental elements of quality fiction are, ‘the story’s shape, its depth of characterization and the originality of plot and concept. It uses expressive language more than it uses the descriptive.’

Observing the current state of African fiction’s global reception, he believes creative freedom is a huge hindrance. ‘There’s a fear of writing what one truly wants to write—whether due to economic pressures and the hierarchical structures of visibility and access in Western publishing spaces, or the constraints imposed by well-meaning ideologues who, in fighting that very problem, end up doing their own kind of damage. Both fears must be banished so the fiction writer can write whatever and however they want. In essence: artistic freedom. Italicize, don’t italicize. Write about poverty or wealth. Just write what feels true to you, as best as you can make it.’

On that note, submissions for fiction are now open. It doesn’t matter if your story is cultural, quiet or wildly imaginative, we want to read it. Discover our rates and submit your best fiction work to us now, via our Submissions page⎈