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Culture & Society

Amala

Ọkà Ni Ògùn An Ode to Amala

Whether focused on its traditions, economy, or politics, any story about Ibadan, Africa’s fourth largest city, is incomplete without reference to amala. At any time of the day, you’re sure to find the city’s inhabitants congregating around sellers of the city’s favourite meal. Recently, I visited Mama Adija’s Amala Spot, which, over the past 35 years, has built a reputation as one of Ibadan’s most revered amala spots.
NigeriaOctober/November 2023
Thula Simpson

‘After the End of History Comes More History’ Thula Simpson’s First Draft

South African historian and author of History of South Africa: From 1902 to the Present, Thula Simpson, believes the most common misconception about South African history is related to apartheid: ‘Many believe that apartheid is the central thread of South African history, the overwhelming fact, the unifying category to which all roads and streams must lead, and which can explain all. In fact, apartheid is a specific period in a much longer history of segregation, and it cannot be understood except in the context of that wider story.’
First DraftInterviewsOctober/November 2023South Africa
Kemi Alabi

‘Writing Is a Way of Being, a Mode of Inquiry, a Compulsion, a Pleasure’ Kemi Alabi’s First Draft

Poet and author of Against Heaven, Kemi Alabi, is experiencing a new disability and profound grief around the limits of care for sick Black people: ‘I’m wrestling with fear, anger; a complete reorientation to time, to my body, to the ableist world—and it’s demanding more honest language from me. I wish I could write around all this, but guided by Audre Lorde, I’ll write through.’
First DraftInterviewsNigeriaOctober/November 2023

The Many Faces of Binyavanga Wainaina The Important Truths in How to Write About Africa

The late Kenyan writer, Binyavanga Wainaina, made a career out of collecting and creating certain truths, whether of Africa, or of food, or of colonialism, or of racism, or of any of the other things that excited him intellectually. In a new posthumous collection of essays collected by Achal Prabhala, the truths most important to him are presented to us.
Best of 2023: EssaysKenyaOctober/November 2023