Culture & Society

Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ

‘Translation Is Where All Languages Meet’ Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ’s First Draft

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Kenyan writer and author of Unbury Our Dead with Song, Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, does not believe in the idea of a ‘great African novel’: ‘I do not think there is such a thing as the “great African novel”—or the “great Russian” or “European” novel—nor do I believe in the idea of major and minor literatures. We simply do not know enough and have not read widely enough to make such judgements. The idea of major and minor literatures is manufactured for us.’ Read More...
April/May 2025First DraftInterviewsKenyavol9-no2
A. Igoni Barrett

‘My Forthcoming Novel Haunted Me for About Eight Years’ A. Igoni Barrett’s First Draft

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Nigerian writer, A. Igoni Barrett, is working on a new novel that picks up Furo Wariboko’s story four years after the events in his critically acclaimed debut, Blackass: ‘My forthcoming novel, Whyteface, haunted me for about eight years, though without my conscious awareness. It was only when I sat down to face the writing that I realized I’d been collecting, throughout those anxious years, all the bits and pieces I needed to exorcise myself.’ Read More...
April/May 2025First DraftInterviewsNigeria
Books

7 Books That Will Transport You to the Nigerian Spirit Realm

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In our latest book recommendation, we have compiled a list of seven books that will transport you to the Nigerian spirit realm. From an inventive coming-of-age story which uses Igbo mythology to explain the realities of a fractured self to a debut novel-in-stories told, curated, and commented upon by a restless spirit, the books on this list will expose you to the inner workings of the Nigerian spirit world. Read More...
April/May 2025Read Something AfricanReading
Ani Kayode Somtochukwu

‘Writers Have the Obligation of Imagining the Future That Must Be Achieved’ Ani Kayode Somtochukwu’s First Draft

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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...
April/May 2025First DraftInterviewsNigeria
Ike Anya

‘I Wanted to Bear Witness to Life in 1990s Nigeria’ Ike Anya’s First Draft

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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...
April/May 2025First DraftInterviewsNigeria