Taiwo Michael Oloyede Ghostroots by Pemi Aguda is a hauntingly intricate filleting of the supernatural as it intertwines with the stark realities of Nigerian life. Across twelve stories, Aguda masterfully blends the mystical with the mundane, creating a narrative landscape that feels simultaneously otherworldly and deeply grounded. The collection pulses with tension—some stories rush forward with electrifying immediacy, while others simmer, their full power only revealing itself at the end. What makes Ghostroots exceptional is Aguda’s ability to weave supernatural elements into the fabric of everyday Nigerian existence. These are not tales of distant, fantastical realms but of a Lagos…
-
-
Taiwo Michael Oloyede Olukorede Yishau’s After the End is a searing extrapolation of feral relationships and unconscionable drifts of affection, where the intimate struggles of its characters mirror the unrelenting chaos of the cities they inhabit. From the sprawling bustle of Lagos to the foggy alienation of Liverpool and London, the novel reveals how geography shapes and intensifies the private battles of individuals navigating grief, betrayal, and the quest for redemption. The trauma of Yishau’s characters is not isolated; it is a reflection of the restless, contradictory spaces they call home, spaces where personal pain is magnified against a backdrop…
-
A Multi-Layered Narrative with Universal Appeal. Unearthing the scars of misdeeds and life as a palimpsest. Ife Abe Olukorede Yishau’s After the End unfurls like a tightly held secret, peeling back layers of human frailty and resilience. At its core is Demola—nicknamed “Google” by his wife, Idera, for his endless trove of knowledge and solutions. Yet, as the story reveals, even a man who seems to have all the answers can carry a labyrinth of contradictions, where certainty masks chaos and confidence cloaks cowardice. Demola’s death sets the novel into motion, plunging Idera into a reality that unravels everything she…
-
May 10, 2024 Sierra Leonean literary space Poda-Poda Stories is looking for writers to submit fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and book reviews to their new call for submissions. If you are a Sierra Leonean writer in Africa or the diaspora, we recommend you submit by the deadline of June 1. Poda-Poda Stories is a Sierra Leonean literary platform that publishes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and literary criticism by emerging and established Sierra Leonean writers. Founded in 2020 by Sierra Leonean writer and journalist Ngozi Cole, the platform amplifies and promotes Sierra Leonean literature. Submission Guidelines: Submit here. Deadline: June 1, 2024 It may…
-
Olayinka Yaqub Wins the 2023 Awele Creative Trust Award
-
Taiwo Michael Oloyede Olukorede Yishau’s After the End is a searing extrapolation of the conundrums of human existence, where the intimate struggles of its characters mirror the unrelenting chaos of the cities they inhabit. From the sprawling bustle of Lagos to the foggy alienation of Liverpool and London, the novel reveals how geography shapes and intensifies the private battles of individuals navigating grief, betrayal, and the quest for redemption. The trauma of Yishau’s characters is not isolated; it is a reflection of the restless, contradictory spaces they call home, spaces where personal pain is magnified against a backdrop of societal…
-
Badmus, in this collection of poems, unfurls the undulant currents of love amidst the slippery rails of romance; tilling the shoal of lust and other plains of emotions in fine locutions. He preened up the premise of affectations in an auspicious sophistry; beaming searchlights on the myriads of neurodivergent claim of proposals and oaths yelped by love birds on the cusp of consummating a salacious nudge. Badmus unbracketed some literary devices to outline the flakes of human responses to pain and the weight of love, while interrogating the fairness of honest hits on objects of affection as against reloading the…
-
Taiwo Michael Oloyede Toni Kan’s The Carnivorous City offers a vivid portrait of Lagos as a living, breathing force—unforgiving, restless, and voracious. Lagos is not merely the backdrop of this story; it is its protagonist, shaping and consuming the lives caught within its sprawl. The city oscillates between chaos and extravagance, where minor disputes erupt into riots and fortunes evaporate in the glittering haze of champagne-fuelled nights. Abel Dike, a teacher in a quiet regional town, is reluctantly drawn into Lagos’s orbit when he receives a cryptic text message: Soni is missing. Soni, Abel’s younger brother, has built a shadowy…
-
In the opening poem, before learning a new normal, the persona in the poem, enthused about the mischiefs of salvation hawkers and the effect their gouging activities had on their followers and the community at large. The pains of the persona are felt in lines like: