What we are witnessing presently in Africa is that the essay has been taken to the village square, away from the shadows of perceived elitism.
By Afrocritik’s Editorial Team
The great English novelist and essayist, Virginia Woolf, once declared in her essay, “The Modern Essay”, that the essayist’s learning must be profound. “But in an essay it must be so fused by the magic of writing that not a fact juts out, not a dogma tears the surface of the texture”, she wrote.
In many instances, we are inclined to agree with her judgment: that is, that an essayist is a person who painstakingly lays out their argument in such a way that the language carries the argument or subject adequately without collapsing under its weight.
The essay form in Africa has been democratising for years now. In times past, the form was tacitly considered elitist and left to the ‘intellectuals’ of the generation. What we are witnessing presently in Africa is that the essay has been taken to the village square, away from the shadows of perceived elitism.
It’s a form for all kinds of literary, political, social, and even economic explorations, both in elitist and proletarian thought. Africans now seem to have realised that essay is a tool for anyone who has an opinion or something relevant to say and are able to say it in the most knowledgeable and compelling manner.
From the great production essays that appeared in Africa and by African writers this year, it’s clear that the essay is a major force in the literature of the continent, a form that is as eclectic and as adventurous as the motion origins of the word.
The personal essays tell the story of our lives, the craft and journalist essays narrow down to specific subjects, while the treatises and polemics are explicating gray areas of our cultural, social, and political endeavours.
It was thus an extremely hard task to select 50 essays out of what is simply an avalanche of essays at this point. We cannot cover all and it must be remarked that these are essays we noted. There is no hierarchy or an endowment of ‘the best’ here, but these essays have proved to be products of exceptional thought and literary craftsmanship.
One of the highlights of year 2024 in the essay form is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the countries of Nigeria and Kenya, where Emmanuel Esomnofu and Carey Baraka, proved to be the most prolific and some of the most accomplished.
As far as 2024 goes, they gave us some of the best gems of the year. What we have here is only a sample selection of their exceptional work this year. And with this, we present Afrocritik’s 50 Notable Essays from Africa in 2024, in no particular order.
“Nollywood and the Evolution of the Sacred Feminine” (Afrocritik) – By Victory Hayzard Solum
In this remarkable essay, Solum holds a light to the sacred feminine, as a concept and an archetype within the wider contemporary culture and the Nigerian creative imagination.
He journeys from the femme fatales of late 90s Nollywood to Ariana Grande’s regendering of God as a woman.
Solum establishes that this sort of regendering and re-imagination is no new development, both in Nigeria and elsewhere.
From CJ “Fiery” Obasi’s masterpiece, Mami Wata, a film whose title flies in the face of radical evangelical dogmatism, to Victor Uwaifo’s musical encounter with a river goddess, Solum examines ways in which the sacred feminine occupies the Nigerian imagination in several contexts of reaction and innovation.
This is without doubt, one of the top essays of the year.
“Important Hair” (The Weganda Review) – by Iruoma Chukwuemeka
The politics around African hair has inspired policies, intellectual and philosophical discourse. It has played a role in colonial and racist agendas of the past which still persist today.
In this essay, budding essayist Chukwuemeka considers the whole significance of the symbols of beauty, class, and economy that define how we see and appreciate African hair.
“Departures: Reflections on the Burden of Parting” (The Republic) – By Chukwuemeka Famous
In this touching personal essay, Famous considers how the increase in immigration among Nigerian youths tear families apart and create distances between close-knit groups.
The essay offers a slice of the emotional undercurrents that push and shove the japa phenomenon.
“The Restless Muse of Umar Abubakar Sidi” (Afapinen) — By Carl Terver
Carl Terver masterfully navigates Umar Abubakar Sidi’s poetry, uncovering the wild, untamed beauty that pulses through every twist and turn of his verses. He paints Sidi as a poet whose command of language is both sharp and graceful, chiseling each line with meticulous precision.
At the same time, Terver reveals Sidi’s gift for weaving a tapestry of ideas and images, seamlessly blending them into a continuous, flowing river of narrative that carries the reader effortlessly through his poetic vision.
“The Violent Birth Of Kampala” (Debunk Quarterly) — By A.K. Kaiza
“The Violent Birth of Kampala” offers a detailed exploration of Kampala’s colonial history, cultural transformations, architectural remnants, revealing both its physical and social scar.
The essay uncovers the erasure of indigenous culture through urban planning, the divisive impact of colonial policies, and the persistence of inequality in post-independence Uganda.
The essay’s rich detail and storytelling highlight the lasting mental, social, and economic toll of colonisation. This is what makes it a thought-provoking read.
“To The Girl Who Never Made it To Norwich” (Off Assignment) — By Dennis Mugaa
Dennis Mugaa poignantly captures the evolution of a relationship, paralleling its emotional shifts with the changing seasons and weather in Norwich, UK, offering a vivid exploration of growth, distance through nature’s cyclical rhythms.
To The Girl Who Never Made It To Norwich illustrates the changing season of a subject’s relationships with a classmate in relation to the ever changing weather in his new city, Norwich.
“The Songs of Jos” (The Republic) – By Emmanuel Esomnofu
In this potential classic of the essay form, Esomnofu undertakes an impressive musical journey into the underbelly of the city of Jos as a Mecca of Nigerian music, having incubated some of the best Nigerian music talents, especially the Abaga brothers.
Esomnofu puts it down to the city’s peculiar history of violence and its combination of this volatility with a genuine environmental inspiration for creativity. Written in lyrically incandescent prose, this is indisputably one of the best essays of the year.
“On Accent and Confidence” (Isele Magazine) – By Idowu Odeyemi
Budding Nigerian philosopher, Idowu Odeyemi continues his cerebrally stimulating philosophical disquisition in this cyclical inquiry on language.
The Nietzschean ability to philosophise social constructs through poetic language is evident in Odeyemi’s style and provides the proper locus for an examination of what the degree of command or accent a person has over a language can or cannot do in social arenas.
“The Creed of Cardinal Arinze” (Open Country Mag) – By Otosirieze
Here is another masterful work from Otosirieze, whose signature essay form is the longform novelistic profiles he has done on significant figures across literature, film, and now religion.
It stands to reason–no, it is a fact now–that he has created something new in the Nigerian literary landscape, and for this alone, he has already made his name.
In this present work, he turns his gaze on the celebrated episcopal figure of Cardinal Arinze, the highest ranking black man in the Vatican and in the Catholic Church, a man who had spent the early years his priestly career at Onitsha, in the legendary church now known as The Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity.
Otosirieze writes with compelling assuredness and an expansiveness that the story requires.
“The Rap-Centric Philosophies of iLLBLISS” (The Republic) – By Emmanuel Esomnofu
Here again, prolific essayist and culture critic Esomnofu makes a strong case for the notation of rapper iLLBLISS as a Hip-Hop legend in Nigeria.
Written with admirable knowledgeability and poise, readers would find themselves agreeing with Esomnofu’s conclusions on one of Nigeria’s Hip-Hop greats.
“African Queens” (London Listening Sessions) – By Dami Ajayi
In Ajayi’s characteristic rivetingly muscular prose, he merges in this essay elements of personal history, music appreciation, and autofiction.
We follow him in the months after his high school education into the early years of the period that would define what Afrobeats would be through the music of one man: 2Baba. Throughout the length of this fine piece of writing, Ajayi keeps us engaged and able to see the drift of his chronicle.
“The Prodigious Arrival of Arinze Ifeakandu” (Open Country) — By Paula Willie–Okafor
In an age drowning in the noise of fleeting fads, Arinze Ifekeandu emerges like a testament, his voice carrying the weight of genuine talent in a world that often overlooks it.
His novelistic short stories in God’s Children Are Little Broken Things serve as a beacon that not only captured the hearts of readers but also anchored him firmly in the literary world, earning him the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize.
Yet, it is not just his command of language that distinguishes him, but his unwavering belief in the power of living truthfully. As fiction stands tall in the fight against queer erasure, Arinze contends that it is the authenticity of a life fully lived that bears the most profound resonance.
This is the story, both on the page and in his existence, which Paula reveals as one of vulnerability and resilience — a showcase of artistic brilliance and personal courage.
“Notes on Craft 1-3” (Substack) — By Ernest Ogunyemi
Ernest Ogunyemi’s series of essays Notes On Craft, stands is a mosaic of insights, with each shard of inspiration drawn from seemingly unrelated sources.
From the quiet ripples of a poetry workshop with Nick Makoha to the probing question posed by a poet—whether a good poem lies in its “meaning” or its “song”—Ogunyemi gets a nudge, each one unbeknownst to the others, but each propelling him forward to talk about craft.
These influences steer and subtly nudge him into action. He captures the essence of writing as a transformative journey, where each word and sentence becomes a conscious stroke in the process of sculpting raw thoughts into something tangible.
“Inheriting Burning Libraries” (Debunk) — By Clifton Gachagua
This essay is a window into a subject’s heart whose seeds of curiosity grow in the soil of spirituality and music, but literature remains a distant star, unseen yet bright with potential.
Raised in a home where the air hums with the notes of sacred melodies and the pages of religion, the writer yearns for something beyond the rhythm of prayers and hymns—a universe of stories waiting to be discovered.
The essay paints a landscape in which the sacred and the imaginative dance in opposite corners, yet are destined to meet. It captures the quiet awakening of a mind that begins to realise there are realms beyond the ones it has been told of— a world that unfolds in the pages of books.
“A Walk Through Soyinka’s Abiku” (The Republic) — By Yomi Chibuikem Folaranmi
Writer, artist, and literary scholar, Yomi Chibuikem Folaranmi embarks on a journey through Wole Soyinka’s poem, ‘Àbíkú’, seeking to unlock its hidden truths.
The essay blossoms in how it unfolds questions and answers that entwine seamlessly, offering the reader both a challenge and a revelation.
It poses the question: should we view ‘Àbíkú’ through the lens of historical accuracy, or should we plunge into its depths to uncover its religious and psychological symbols?
Ultimately, as the answer, the essay suggests, to fully understand the poem’s intricate fabric, one must gaze through both lenses, allowing them to intertwine and illuminate its complexity.
“Yemi Alade: The Rebel Queen of Afro-Pop” (Afrocritik) – By Emmanuel ‘Waziri’ Okoro
This comprehensive profile of Yemi Alade properly situates the flamboyant Nigerian music queen as a doyen of African music.
Through a career spanning different genres, without compromising her art, Alade has not only gotten better, but has become the cornerstone of what it means to entrench one’s music into a truly pan-African art.
“A Stranger in Saint Paul De Vence” (Debunk) — By Kiprop Kimutai
Kiprop Kimutai accounts for his four-week stay at the Maison Baldwin Residency, where the echoes of James Baldwin’s legacy pulse through every corner.
This sanctuary, nestled within the embrace of Baldwin’s own exile, becomes a medium for Black writers from across the world to gather, their voices converging into a sea of unwavering truth, identity, and justice.
In this sacred space, the writer’s reflections are nourished by the place where Baldwin once wrestled with the jagged complexities of race, freedom, and art.
Surrounded by fellow artists, each an instrument in the orchestra of shared purpose, the residency becomes a forge, shaping both the writer’s craft and their spirit — a pilgrimage that not only deepens a creative well but also awakens the timeless power of his storytelling and reshapes his creative fabric.
“The Coming-of-Age Novel As a Portrait of Nigeria” (The Republic) – By Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto
This wonderful essay conflates the rise of coming-of-age novels with coming-of-age of Nigeria. It draws interesting parallels between literature and politics or vice versa.
Placing its primary anchor on literature, the essay’s perfectly logical premise is that the country’s chequered coming of age is also mirrored in the coming of age of stories of its citizens who find themselves living and negotiating the same struggles that the country finds itself in.
“Where Reasons End” (Doek) — By Akal Mohan
The beauty in Akal Mohan’s “Where Reasons End” lies in its simplicity and emotional depth, as it captures the nature of grieving a lost love, and how it shapes one’s perception.
Through evocative prose, the essay reveals how the losses we encounter influences not just what we say, but how we say it, offering a deeply moving meditation on human nature and condition.
“Nollywood’s Unrefined Portrayal of Sex Work and Sex Workers” (The Republic) – By Seyi Lasisi
Lasisi’s essay takes Nollywood to task on its inability to provide nuanced portrayal of sex work and sex workers.
He provides historical evidence of this social and thematic distortion in the Nigeria film industry while also pointing clearly to recent instances where this theme was given adequate artistic coverage as a pointer to the way forward for the industry.
“A Wellspring” (Disegno) — By Lutivini Majanja
In “A Wellspring”, Cave Bureau, a collective of architects and researchers, serves as a ‘wellspring’ of innovation, threading architecture and urbanism into the fabric of nature. They embark on a mission to rescue Mt. Suswa from the encroaching water scarcity.
Lutivini Majanja delves into Cave Bureau’s decentralized approach, their compass pointing toward the distant horizon where the Anthropocene’s weight bears down on the Maasai people.
The winds of change, driven by human hands, threaten to uproot their centuries-old ways of life, once anchored firmly to the land.
The Maasai of Suswa now stand in the grip of the worst drought in forty years, watching as their herds of cows and goats wither under the sun’s unrelenting gaze, and their means of survival crumble like dust in the wind.
“Remembering Kampala” (The Republic)— by Carey Baraka
Carey Baraka plunges into Kampala’s history, tracing the golden era of the 1960s when Uganda’s capital was a luminous beacon of African literature and intellectual vigor.
Makerere University stood at the heart of this cultural bloom, drawing students, scholars, and writers from across the continent. Kampala, was the beating pulse of intellectual and artistic innovation, and thrived as a fertile ground where ideas took root and blossomed.
Baraka narrates how as the 1970s dawned, a shadow fell over the city. The brutal reign of Idi Amin, who seized power in 1971, scattered intellectuals, writers, and artists. Kampala’s intellectual life unraveled as many were forced into exile to escape the tyranny.
The city that had once been the cradle of creativity became a hollow shell, its cultural light dimmed, and its place at the forefront of African literature lost to the dark clouds of repression.remarkable
“Brymo, Macabre, and Reconciling With the Art of Controversial Artistes” (Afrocritik) – By Yinka Adetu
A juxtaposition of Brymo’s talent and his unsavoury politics cum ethics, this essay asks the reader what can be done in the instance the undesirable makes the applaudable.
Brymo’s music is acclaimed but his person, as he has on many occasions shown publicly, leaves little to be desired.
Adetu examines the moral dilemma of the art consumer with the minutest volume of ethical awareness facts when a virtuoso is lacking in virtue.
“When The Knife Cuts” (Isele Magazine) — By Paul Chuks
This is a personal narrative about growing up with a cleft palate. Chuks explores the physical and emotional struggles this brought.
From undergoing surgery as an infant to navigating childhood bullying, public ridicule, and self-consciousness, the author recounts moments of pain, resilience, and identity formation.
Ultimately, the essay reveals a journey of self-acceptance, familial support, and finding solace in faith and creativity. Chuks highlights the impact of physical difference on self-esteem and the strength required to rise above this.
“Gulu Revisited” (A Long House) — By Carey Baraka
Carey Baraka takes readers on a journey to Northern Uganda, through intertwined legacies of war, spirituality, and history in this essay.
From Alice Lakwena’s Holy Spirit Movement to Okot p’Bitek’s resistance against colonial narratives, Baraka integrates personal and ancestral connections into an exploration of identity and place.
Baraka’s essay is a blend of history, personal reflection, and cultural critique, immersing the reader in Gulu’s complex history, from its Luo roots to the chaos of 20th-century Uganda.
“The Beacons, The Bearers of Our Light” (Ubwali Literary Magazine) — By Naomi Nduta Waweru
The evolving relationship between mothers and daughters within patriarchal societies is the focus of Waweru’s essay. She examines how mothers, shaped by traditional gender roles and harmful rituals like circumcision, empower their daughters to resist such practices.
The daughters, in turn, challenge gender-based violence and advocate for women’s rights. The essay testifies to the generational shift from passivity to activism, where mothers reject harmful customs, and daughters lead social change.
“The Sound Of A Violin” (A Long House) — Bernadette Muthoni
Bernadette Muthoni’s “The Sound of a Violin”, focuses on the transformative power of music and a connection she feels with her violin. Muthoni recounts her journey from a young listener to a dedicated violinist.
One thing is obvious in this essay: the writer’s passion for her instrument shines through as she describes the thrill of discovering classical music and the joy of practicing and performing.
This essay is filled with heartwarming anecdotes and reflections on the profound impact music has had on her human connection and artistic expression.
“Nairobi To New York And Back: The Loneliness Of The Internationally Educated Elite” (The Guardian) — By Carey Baraka
The complex experiences of young, highly-educated Africans who have returned home after studying abroad is the focal point of “Nairobi To New York and Back: The Loneliness Of The Internationally Educated Elite”.
As they navigate the gap between their global aspirations and local realities, these individuals grapple with questions of identity, belonging, and purpose.
This essay probes the challenges and privileges faced by this emerging elite, with a constant reference to Chinua Achebe’s No Longer At Ease where Obi Okonkwo undergoes a similar experience of displacement, and a nuanced perspective on their dilemma: when abroad, a biting urge to return home; when home, a feeling of unfamiliarity.
“The Disruptive Potential of Frida Orupabo’s Metamorphic Women” (The Republic) – By Kechi Nne Nomu
Nomu dives deep into the photographic world of Norwegian-Nigerian artist and photographer, Frida Orupabo, whose collage technique offers insight into the alluring mystery and natural states of the female figure.
While also offering a treatise on form, Nomu sees Orupabo’s photographic interventions as innovative in capturing the multivalent faces of women in the contemporary discourses raging in the world today.
“Thinking Back To Government Quarters” (Debunk Quarterly) — By Dalle Abraham
Dalle Abraham’s evocative essay, delves into life in post-colonial Kenya. Abraham paints a picture of a bygone era, capturing the hopes, dreams, and frustrations of a generation caught between tradition and modernity.
This essay explores themes of faux class, aspiration, and the impact of government policies on ordinary people. Abraham’s keen observations and introspective reflections offer a nuanced perspective on the challenges and joys of growing up in a once Colonial territory –the government quarters –which he realises in retrospection is fleeting and insignificant.
“Further Reflections on ‘Soro Soke’: In Conversation with Oyindamola Shoola” (Afrocritik) – By Ọláolúwa Òní
Who is positioned to write what? Of whom can such a thing be written? These are the questions Oni asks and attempts to answer while using as a focal point the publication of a book seemingly about the #EndSARS protest of 2020.
One is reminded of Teju Cole’s concept of the White Saviour as one is forced through this essay to exam the ethics and moral culpability involved in a European making somewhat humongous claims of giving voice to the Nigerian experience, and how western institutions do not take care to do their due diligence at the expense of appearing uninformed and prejudiced.
“Lagos, Their Lagos” (Afapinen) — By Emmanuel Esomnofu
Emmanuel Esomnofu taps into the complex city that is Lagos, highlighting the artists and writers who have shaped its image.
From the vibrant art of Shuta Bug to the gritty realism of Cyprian Ekwensi’s novels, Esomnofu captures the city’s multifaceted identity of Lagos as a place of stark contrasts – where tradition and modernity coexist, and where dreams and aspirations collide with harsh realities.
“Ndidi Dike’s Thesis on the Nigerian Condition” (The Republic) — By Chimezie Chika
In this piece of art criticism, Chika discusses Nigeria’s participation in the 60th Venice Biennale through the exhibition Nigeria Imaginary, curated by Aindrea Emelife.
The exhibition, which explores Nigeria’s colonial past, present challenges, and hopeful future, showcases works by eight Nigerian artists, including Ndidi Dike, Yinka Shonibare, and Toyin Ojih Odutola.
These artists use diverse mediums like photography, painting, sculpture, and installation to reflect on Nigeria’s identity and socio-political issues.
The essay is a journey through modern Nigerian art, as well as a navigation of postcolonial identity, while positioning Dike’s work within this artistic tradition and showcasing her use of mixed media to reflect Nigeria’s challenges and aspirations.
“Notes of a Nonresident Alien” (Isele Magazine) — By Tolu Daniel
Tolu Daniel’s essay is a personal reflection on the experiences of a nonresident living in the United States. The author shares their journey, from the initial excitement of moving to a new country to the challenges of navigating a foreign culture.
Themes such as the impact of cultural differences, the challenges of loneliness and isolation, and the complexities of identity are at the center of this essay. Daniel also reflects on the political climate in both the United States and Nigeria, highlighting the racial and social injustices that persist in both countries.
“How Pentecostal Preachers And Satanic Panic Helped Launch Nollywood” (New Lines Magazine) — By Kingsley Charles
Kingsley Charles examines the history of Nollywood, tracing its origins back to the 1990s when a wave of occult-themed horror films captivated audiences. The rise of these films was intertwined with the growing influence of Pentecostal Christianity in Nigeria and the country’s socio-economic challenges.
In the article, Charles explores the impact of these films on Nigerian culture, examining their themes, symbolism, and the moral messages they conveyed.
“Everything That Surrounds You” (The Offing Magazine) — By Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi
Amobi crafts a deeply introspective essay exploring the interplay between isolation and environment. Through reflections on the mundane—lonely desks, creaking beds, and fleeting interactions—he examines how our surroundings can simultaneously connect and alienate us.
With raw honesty, he unpacks the struggle to make meaning of the ordinary, finding that sometimes, even everything around us is not enough.
“We Made Water” (Lolwe) — By Ìjàpá O
Rich in symbolism and metaphors, this is an essay about love, desire, and what it means to exist in the margins, both as a queer person and as a person who by several societal conventions would be considered a misfit.
Not only does the queerness traverse it, but the essay in itself, non-linear and subversive in its narration, is a queering of language and form. Myth collides with history collides with contemporary alluringness, resulting in a spellbinding read. This essay testifies to the vibrance and perpetuity of othered lives in Nigerian cities.
It says, look, there are queer lives in Ibadan and Lagos and everywhere else, and here is a window into that state of being through the life of one person.
“Watch Us Drift, Watch Us Fly” (Tahoma Literary Review) — By Mhembeuter Jeremiah Orhemba
Orhemba’s voice is steady, though his subjects are precarious: faith, the loss of innocence, desire, queerness. And it is this steadiness that grounds his conviction in his beliefs and the freedom that followed a childhood of fear and trembling.
He states unapologetically in this essay that neither his body nor his desire is an abomination deserving of excision. Determined to not be overtaken by the majorly dark atmosphere, he ends the with a proclamation of himself as the embodiment of freedom.
“A Profound Search For The Sublime” (The Republic) — By Dennis Mugaa
In “A profound Search for the sublime”, Dennis Mugaa reviews Mohamed Mbougar Sarr’s The Most Secret Memory of Men. The novel is a labyrinthine exploration of identity, literary legacy, and the burdens of genius.
Narrated by Diégane Latyr Faye, it traces his quest to uncover the mystery of T.C. Elimane, a vanished African literary prodigy whose novel causes an uproar in his world. Mugaa, through this review, draws attention to the many questions around what African literature should be.
“To J.P. Clark, On Ibadan” (Efiko Magazine) — by Zenas Ubere
In this epistolary essay addressed to the poet, J.P. Clark, Zenas Ubere traverses Ibadan, the one in the mind (his and Clark’s) and the one beneath the feet. He reflects on the city and its historical and cultural significance.
But he isn’t just a stationary voyeur, he moves around, he tastes the city and rides on an okada while observing its character and architecture.
He infuses personal and national history into the narrative; we are introduced to a grandfather whom he never met and are reminded brashly of Nigeria’s blood-laden military past.
This essay is an examination of how the past shapes a man’s understanding of a city.
“Recipe for a Gifted Child” (Folio Literary Journal) — By Kamsi Anyachebelu
An emotionally-charged essay exploring the complexities of being a gifted child within a framework of colonialism, racial identity, and the pressure of exceptionalism. Through a poignant, detailed narrative, Anyachebelu examines the toll of academic success and the emotional burdens tied to being seen as ‘exceptional’.
The essay’s use of a “recipe” structure to describe the making of a gifted child is an effective narrative device, showcasing the ingredients that create the idealised image of a high-achieving individual—one who is both a product of their circumstances and a victim of the expectations placed upon them.
“The Palate” (The Journal of African Youth Literature) — By Frank Njugi
Njugi recounts visiting Port Louis, Mauritius, where he falls in love with the local street food, Dholl Puri. He reflects on how food tells the story of a place and culture, noting the serenity of Port Louis and its role in inspiring the artistic soul.
The essay contrasts the calm, dreamlike atmosphere of Mauritius with the chaotic, harsh reality of Nairobi, where survival and resilience are key. Despite the differences, he finds a sense of connection between the two cities, recognizing the familiar essence of Mauritius in a Smocha in Nairobi.
“How Fuji Music Influences the Modern Afro-pop Landscape” (Afrocritik) – By Abioye Samson Damilare
Samson Damilare’s essay paints a picture of the harmonious blending between Afro-Pop’s modern pulse and Fuji music. Afro-Pop, despite its widespread global presence, continues to draw strength from the rhythmic vitality and the Yoruba essence that Fuji imparts.
Damilare skillfully illuminates this crossroad where time collides, revealing how the enduring legacy of Fuji does not merely survive but flourishes, through Afro-Pop’s vibrancy.
“Will This Time Be Different for You” (Efiko Magazine) — By Mubanga Kalimamukwento
This essay is a reflection on the history, struggles, and political journey of Zambia, personified as a woman. It traces her emergence from colonization to independence in 1964, and highlights her aspirations for freedom and self-determination.
We see the cycles of hope and disappointment, as she navigates the complexities of identity, leadership, and national progress.
Kalimamukwento questions the stories told by the “storykeepers” and whether the country’s promises will ever truly be fulfilled.
Through this allegorical narrative, the essay examines the tension between optimism for change and the weariness of repeated disappointment, and ends on a note of resignation and uncertainty about the future.
“Africanfuturism: A Literary Plane of Infinite Possibilities for Africa’s Future” (Afrocritik) – By Chimezie Chika
This essay soars in its exploration of a modern era where speculative prose and literature dominate the vast expanse of a continent’s literary and publishing landscape.
Here, Chimezie Chika navigates the horizons of a new ‘Literary Plane’—Africanfuturism—a genre that sparks the imagination and kindles deep reflection on the future’s potential, all while remaining rooted in the present.
He conjures a vision of Africanfuturism as a luminous bridge that intersects the past, present, and future into a drapery of possibility, where every step into tomorrow is guided by the wisdom and trials of today.
Through his exploration, he sounds a powerful call to rechart the course of progress, urging a new understanding of the African literary realm and its transformative evolution in this age of shifting tides.
“Womb and Period Hu(r)ts” (Isele) — By Muti’ah Badruddeen
Badrudden explores her personal journey toward deciding to undergo a hysterectomy after years of suffering from uterine fibroids, heavy menstrual bleeding, and anemia.
She chronicles the physical, emotional, and societal challenges she faced, including the cultural silence around women’s health, societal expectations of womanhood, and resistance from medical professionals to honour her autonomy.
The narrative meanders through memories of menstrual taboos, early misunderstandings about menstruation, and her family’s history of reproductive health struggles.
“The ‘Yassification’ of Thrift Clothing in Nigeria” (Afrocritik) – By Abioye Samson Damilare
In this short trend-affirming piece, Damilare traces the gradual mainstreaming of secondhand (“okrika”) clothes in Nigeria.
He argues that due to the rise of online shopping and social media vendor culture, secondhand clothing has become rebranded as “thrift” clothing, and thus what previously represented poverty and economic constraints has become an important fashion choice for the new generation.
“A Principle for the New Nigerian Criticism” (The Republic) — By Ancci
Ancci compellingly contends, with a sharp awareness of the need for accessible literary criticism, how to disseminate criticism in contemporary African literature.
Ancci argues that to truly engage the Nigerian public with literature, the language of criticism must be as transparent and inclusive, rather than be as obscure and subversive as the shadows cast by the very writers it aims to unravel.
“My Battle with My Skin” (Shallow Tales Review) — By Boakye D. Alpha
A raw exploration of his journey with deep insecurities about his dark skin, Alpha describes his feelings of self-doubt and rejection. But within all that gloom, he offers us a moment of healing which helps him be at peace in his own skin.
By the end of the essay, he has experienced a sense of liberation that seemingly oozes from the page and into the reader.
Honorable Mentions
- “Memorial to the Man Who Lives” (Isele) – By IfeOluwa Nihiola
- “A Navy Pilot Pivoted to Writing Spurred by Surrealists” (Open Country Mag) – By Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera
- “All the Fuss About Afrobeats, Its “Way-Pavers” and Frontliners” (Afrocritik) – By Emmanuel ‘Waziri’ Okoro
- “At Maghrib, the Crows Fly Home” (Kingfisher Magazine) – By Mariam Hassan
- “My Crown” (Afritondo) – By Mayowa Fagbure
- “Size Bias on Our Runways: How Inclusive Are Fashion Competitions and the Industry?” (Afrocritik) – By Abioye Samson Damilare
- “Black Man Bulala: Examining Odumodublvck’s Verse on “Olufunmi Reimagined”” (Afrocritik) – By Sanni Omodolapo
- “My Bed Misses You” (Doek!) – By Serena Paver
- “Conditioned Roots” (Ubwali Literary Magazine) – By Mwanabibi Sikamo