African Writing Online; Home Page; Issue Five

Abubakar Ibrahim
Arja Salafranca
Austin Kaluba
C. Mark-Beasant
Chi Onyemelukwe
Chris Mlalazi
Chuma Nwokolo
Cynthia Price
Dibussi Tande
Dike Okoro
Diran Adebayo
Egya Sule
Elizabeth Joss
Fiona Jamieson
Gertrude Makhaya
James Currey
Jarmo Pikkujamsa
Lakunle Jaiyesimi
Lauri Kubuitsile
M. M. N'Dongo
Megan Hall
Melissa de Villiers
Mildred Barya
M.Mashigoane
N Ayikwei Parkes
Nourdin Bejjit
Obe Mata
Patrick Iberi
Petina Gappah
P. Makhanya
Phindiwe Nkosi
Raisedon Baya
Rosemary Ekosso
Sachdeva Gaya
Tanure Ojaide

         Credits:
   Ntone Edjabe
   Rudolf Okonkwo
   Tolu Ogunlesi
   Yomi Ola
   Molara Wood

Buy Print Edition

Coming of Age
and four other poems from Nigerian poet, Obe Mata

Chameleon House
Journalist and former South African political prisoner, Melissa De Villiers sets her new story in old haunts.

The Dandelion Wishers
The last hour of a condemned man brings shattering revelation to his best friend, in Lauri Kubuitsile's story from Botswana

In This Hope
A tender tale from Kenya, Sachdeva Gaya writes of penitence and debt

Identity Theft
There was one thing Mrs. Anoliefo was in no mood to share, even after her estranged husband was buried. Short fiction from Cheluchi Onyemelukwe

Four Women
Gertrude Makhaya's urban story: a collision of four strong personalities from two generations, with a wedding in prospect.

Aminogbe's Song
Dike Okoro reviews Tanure Ojaide's new collection, Waiting for the Hatching of a Cockerel

My Brother's Eyes
A woman finds relief for the emptiness in her brother's eyes from strange quarters. A short story from Cynthia Price

Producing The Crocodile on the Zambezi
“What are you trying to do? Make fun of the President?” Torture in the aftermath of protest theatre in Zimbabwe. Raisedon Baya and Chris Mlalazi present a report and an excerpt

	Introspection Jarmo Pikkujamsa, SOAS research student, introduces the writings of Senegalese writer, Mamadou Mahmoud N'Dongo,

Erode
A subtle definition, by Phindiwe Nkosi

Contributions for No. 5 have come, as usual, from all over Africa and her Diaspora: Zambia, Cameroon, Finland and Nigeria; from Botswana and Zimbabwe, from Morrocco... Senegal... We have a strong suite of short fiction from South Africa, a cover on Obama and much to commend in poetry, essays and more... welcome

Cover Essay

Caution, In the Season of Obama
Patrician, cerebral, and uncommonly charismatic. An editorial on Barack Obama's decisive lease of the White House

		How do I Love Thee, Barack? let me count the ways... Diran Adebayo in an open letter to Obama

The Obama Odyssey
Catherine Mark-Beasant considers what Obama's victory means for her.

Night Calls
At first Farida was just a honeyed voice at the other end of a 'wrong number' in the dead of night. An Abubakar Ibrahim tale

Cleo and Nic
It was simply love at first sight. Yet, she was Jewish and he was Goyim. And this was South Africa. Fiction from Spanish/ South African, Arja Salafranca

Writing House of Falling Women
Cameroonian writer, Dibussi Tande, interviews compatriot, Rosemary E. Ekosso on her new book

Underline & Co
4 philosophical poems from Patrick Iberi

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The War and Peace Issue

plans a special issue themed on war and conflict. Please send your contributions by 30th January, 2009

Chris Spring's Angaza Africa reviewed

Things Fall Apart at 50; Features

AWS, Chinua Achebe & all Those Books
Nourdin Bejjit continues his talk with publisher James Currey on his long affair with African Literature, in the second of a three-part series

Testimonials
Upon first reading Things Fall Apart

The Novelist as Teacher
Chinua Achebe short-changed Things Fall Apart with its teaching mission, argues Nigerian critic and writer, E.E. Sule

Maria's Vision
New fiction from Zambian writer and journalist, Austin Kaluba

Houses on my Street
Poems from Nigerian writer, Lakunle Jaiyesimi

The Lie of your Land
Elizabeth Joss with five poems and a very short story from Stellenbosch, South Africa

Tales by Conversation
Have you missed an issue? Links to back issues, plus Terminal Talk, the latest in the series

Mncedisi Mashigoane
Cryptic poems from Johannesburg

Freedom
Five short poems from South African writer, Phelelani Makhanya

The Blanket
In this evocative memoir, an eight-year-old Fiona Jamieson stumbles upon a man with a knife in the small of the back...

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		Last week I went to a funeral. Nomvula is dead. You are asking yourself confusedly who Nomvula was and I will tell you. Zukiswa