Culture & Society
‘Writers Have the Obligation of Imagining the Future That Must Be Achieved’ Ani Kayode Somtochukwu’s First Draft
Nigerian queer liberation activist and author of And Then He Sang a Lullaby, Ani Kayode Somtochukwu, describes his writing as an expression of love for the African people: ‘I like to think of my writing as an expression of love for the African people, a commitment to our capacity for justice and liberty, an insistence on dreaming our freedom as an inevitable eventuality. I want to be an incendiary bomb. And I know that stories have that power.’ Read More...
7 Books That Will Make You Think Twice Before Dating Men
In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of seven books that will make you think twice before dating men. The books on this list will show different ways men can turn on women and hopefully prepare you for a romantic relationship with men. Read More...
The Struggle Between Faith and Finality
Feranmi Ariyo’s I Watch You Disappear articulates illness, grief, hope and faith, blending prosaic narrative with poetic depth to capture the emotional tension of a family grappling with cancer and loss. Read More...
‘I Wanted to Bear Witness to Life in 1990s Nigeria’ Ike Anya’s First Draft
Nigerian public health expert and author of Small by Small, Ike Anya, believes there is a freshness and vibrancy to African storytelling: ‘This comes from the combination of a long history of storytelling through various mediums, a wealth of unshared rich material and a population of young people equipped with digital tools that have pushed us towards what I like to call an equalization of voice.’ Read More...
5 Books to Read If You Think AI Will Take Your Job
In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of five books you should read if you think AI will take your job. From a collection of AI-themed short stories from across Africa to an interrogation of the myth of AI’s objectivity, the books on this list will help you think more critically about AI. Read More...
The Dangers of Celebrity Activism
For art to be revolutionary it must detach itself from the artist; and for revolutions to survive, they must reject the celebrity. Read More...
‘Black Womanhood Is Not a Monolithic Experience’ Lola Akinmade Åkerström’s First Draft
Travel writer and author of the upcoming novel Bitter Honey, Lola Akinmade Åkerström, wants to spark more conversations about the challenges of raising biracial children in white-majority countries: ‘Raising biracial children in a society that remains the last bastion of whiteness and making sure they are deeply self-confident and have a strong sense of identity is my utmost role as a mother in Sweden.’ Read More...
7 Books That Will Break You, and Then Heal You
In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of seven books that will break you and heal you right back. From the moving story about the separation of twin brothers to a sci-fi novel that transports readers continuously between the present and the antebellum past, the books on this list will make you cry, but they will also make you smile. Read More...
The Language of Violence
South African poet Qhali’s Crying in My Mother’s Tongue: Ukulila, is a searing meditation on language and identity, intergenerational trauma, sexual violence, healing, and the intimate ties of motherhood and family. Read More...
Reading Gabriel García Márquez in Nairobi
With the recent Netflix adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, I recount what it meant to read his work as a young writer living in Nairobi. Read More...
