Recent Essays

IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE

Poetry by Nenyi Ato Bentum Skits of souls surround a fetish hut Each scene tells the depth of the cut This was not a green Greek TRAGEDY Those who came here never returned Those who returned never came here Ferried fathers, aborted abductors; Sinful sorcerers, paid pawns, Wayside wanderers, jilted...

TEACH THIS TO OUR CHILDREN

Poetry by Favour Orlando When the umbilical cords that attached us to our mothers were excised, The crafted words of our people, of our land, defined us, Not the high-pitched voice of colonialism, Or its firm iron fist pressed on our rigid backs While we laboured under the vibrant sun....

THE GREY AREAS

Fiction by Ufuoma Bakporhe           There were many things I knew about being a biracial woman living in Nigeria. Growing up, I heard many things about how I was prone to better opportunities, or how I was more special than ‘regular’ Nigerian kids who did not have a foreign parent, but...

HEAD OF A KING (OBA)

Poetry by Chukwuebuka Osondu-Imafidon The ‘Oba’ that I am referring to is the statue that was once in the RISD Museum, but has now been returned to its rightful owners. The points of view are in the following order: the colonizer who stole it, the mask itself, and the museum...

MAWULI

Poetry by Kordjo Zankeli ever since Nananom mustered Dutch couragefrom the libation we offer with J.H. Henkes schnapps, distilled to taste like Genever, the Gods have forever taken a French leave; present everywhere, but here. 777 perfect full moons ago, the God of Adenta fled to Atlanta; the God of...