Pot of Stories
Ikechukwu Iwuagwu in The Moveee
In The Moveee magazine this week, a woman endures physical abuse from her husband until it ends in a tragedy. But not the usual tragedy you would expect. Find out more in the story.
Bill Ivans Gbafore in Pepper Coast Lit
In the latest issue of the librarian literary magazine, Bill Ivans Gbafore takes you through the memories he had with a very dear friend who lost his life to sickle cell disease.
Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto in Isele Magazine
Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto won a prestigious international poetry prize and was invited to come and claim the prize in Italy. In this personal essay, Chinua takes us through his struggles in his home country and as a Black man travelling to Europe to claim an international poetry prize.
Rusty ➤
Nlebedim Nzube Harry by Kalahari Review
Although this story is old, old is gold. This is a story of a rat whose life was spared through a man’s infidelity. It’s a satiric short story. You’d better hold your belly while reading. Below is an excerpt: “The girl entered the room, held by the hand by Popoola. As she sat on a chair, Rusty winced, fully aware of the damage her buttocks could inflict on the rats that lounged beneath the chair, unknowing of their imminent demise. She had one of those rears that human males seemed intensely intrigued by, and which had put paid to the lives and, in other cases, the normal existence of some rats who were unfortunate enough to be within crushing point.”
‘Pemi Aguda in American Short Fiction
Pemi Aguda will make you laugh with this story. A typical African experience between a group of women who are into traditional money contribution (popularly called Esusu). Find out what happens to women who are unable to contribute their own part of contributions and, more interestingly, find out what these women are likely to do with their own share of the contributions.
Tega Oghenechovwen in Joyland Magazine
Sometimes, we have to find happiness where there’s none. In this simple story of displacement, the author will take you through the journey of longing and improvisation.
Pot of Poetry
Exit ➤
Rasaq Malik in Poetry International
Where will the light of morning/emerge from in this land where/the darkness of grief reflects/everywhere? Who will resurrect/the fallen dreams of those who/have crossed borders, leaving/behind their lives in this phantom/land? Sometimes at dusk, the dead/return as shadows, as trees that are/starved of rain.
Ololade Akinlabi Ige in Writers Resist
What greets you when you get here?/Your father’s house that stands on one leg?/Or your uncle in the wheelchair?/Maybe your friend with broken arms?/Or Amina, your girlfriend with a bleeding vagina?
The Ordinary Affair of Being Human ➤
Timi Sanni in Hoax
The more I saw my heroes, the more/ordinary they became—flesh as soft,/bone as brittle, blood even redder/than the crimson of marrows.
Badagry ➤
Ajibola Tolase in Poetry Foundation
Father Thomas saved our ancestors in the name of his lord. I want him
undead and locked up. I want his favorite students from his boys-only
missionary school returned from England. I want his hands away
from their thighs. I want to meet him in 1842, to say, “Thomas,
don’t wear a cassock.”
Book Recommendations
Richard Wright (1945)
Our book recommendation for this week, in celebration of Black History Month, is an old but evergreen memoir, Black Boy, by Richard Wright. First published in 1945, Black Boy is a memoir by American author Richard Wright, detailing his upbringing. Wright describes his youth in the South: Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee, and his eventual move to Chicago, where he established his writing career and becomes involved with the Communist Party.
News & Opportunities
Toi Derricotte & Cornelius Eady Chapbook Prize ➤
Opportunity
This call for submission is strictly for Black poets. The juicy part is that there’s no submission fee. Collect your poetry together. 15th November is the deadline. Find the link below to read the guidelines and submit away.
Opportunity
Call for submission. This is strictly for people who are Africans. This also requires no submission fee. It ends on the first of November. The link below will be of great help to apply. You might just be the winner. Who knows? Submit away!
Opportunity
This magazine is open for submissions; poetry, prose essay etc. From the 1st to the 15th day of each month. November is here, and you should follow the link below to get your work in.
Lagos International Poetry Festival ➤
Event
The festival is to be held on the 29th, Saturday evening. And also the next day, which is the 30th. All you need to know about this festival, packed with international and indigenous creatives, is in the link above.
Opportunity
Berlin Lit is open for submissions. And it’s a paying market without submission fees. Send them your unpublished works using the link below.