Garlands
Garlands What response befits a company of douche-bags? This is not about us. No, it so isn’t about us. The uninvited attention from wayward wands. Fighting voices fly upwards from the street nags Below. What makes everyone think they know?…
Tey, a film by Alain Gomis: From Senegal to Haiti, timelessness and spirituality remain the same
Tey, [Today] a film directed by Alain Gomis which opens in NYC on Oct 6 at Mist Harlem, won the Golden Stallion Prize for the best film at the 2013 FESPACO in Burkina Faso. The film has now been formally…
HIV: A silent relative
From Inkanyiso The virus has become a silent relative by Kopano Sibeko “It’s amazing how the death of someone can also be a blessing” shares Thembela ‘Terra’ Dick. She walks me on a tale of how her sister, Thembi Ngubane’s…
Fairytales for Lost Children
Publisher’s Note: FAIRYTALES FOR LOST CHILDREN is narrated by people constantly on the verge of self-revelation. These characters – young, gay and lesbian Somalis – must navigate the complexities of family, identity and the immigrant experience as they tumble towards freedom. Set…
Rokia Traoré – Beautiful Africa
From PRI The World – An interview and music by Malian singer, Rokia Traoré How Rokia Traoré Created a Beautiful Album Amid Constant News of Torture and Killings in Mali Last year, a coup d’etat in Mali fed an…
“emotion runs under one umbrella, it is the ‘weather’ that changes.” Uche Peter Umez interviews Jumoke Verissimo
Interviewer’s Note: JUMOKE VERISSIMO has performed her poetry in Nigeria, Macedonia and Norway; some of which have appeared in “Migrations” (Afro-Italian) Wole Soyinka ed., “Voldposten 2010” (Norway), “Livre d’or de Struga” (Poetes du monde, sous le patronage de l’UNESCO) and…
Feminist Chronicles: NoViolet Bulawayo
I know people say that art is a talent that one is born with, and writing being one form of art is a natural talent, but I will never give up hope that someday I will be able to put words together in the indelible manner that NoViolet does. Since she holds a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from Cornell University in America specialising in creative writing, I would like to think these studies honed her unique voice. Maybe if I become one of her students at Cornell where she now lectures, I may learn to write as well as she does.
Iduma finally on his way
I first met Emmanuel Iduma in October of 2009 at an art criticism workshop in Lagos. We had different experiences – I as facilitator and he as participant. Not a reflection on others in the group but Iduma was eager…
A Night of Fairytales’: An Audience With Diriye Osman
‘A Night of Fairytales’: An Audience With Diriye Osman – If you are in or around London you need to attend this event at the Poetry Cafe….. Diriye Osman is a Somali-born, British short story writer whose debut collection of…
Finding my voice – the center can and will hold
I wrote my first book, Fairytales For Lost Children, a collection of short stories about the Somali gay and lesbian experience, in order to find my voice—literally. In 2002 I was diagnosed with psychosis and institutionalised in a mental hospital…
Nompumelelo: Decomposed Bitterly
From HOLAAFrica – Nompumelelo’s current research focused on women who are killed and their bodies merely lie ‘Decomposed Bitterly’ (a reference to the concept of Human Traffic). She says: ‘I use my body as subject matter. In the images shown…
Mo(u)rning in progress
From Inkanyiso a documentary of Mo(u)rning by Zanele Muholi © Zanele Muholi 2013 Where: Thokoza township, Johannesburg What: Three (3) days after Duduzile Zozo’s burial When: 16/07/2013 How many: 24 participants excluding taxi drivers. Who: Mostly black lesbians and gays… Camera…
Butch & Menstruation is Art
From inkanyiso photo documentary on a radical response to violence against Black lesbians by Zanele Muholi As we continue to live and survive in troubled times as black lesbians in South Africa and within the continent, where rampant hate crimes…
Rebel woman. Sister-fire: Chiwoniso Maraire (5 March 1976 – 24 July 2013)
Poet, playwright and activist, Shailja Patel writes in memory of her her sister-friend and fellow rebel woman, mbira player and songwriter, Chiwoniso Maraire who passed away on the 24th July 2013. Beauty in Song: Chiwoniso singing and playing the mbira…
Queer Africa – New and collected fiction
The cover for Queer Africa: New and Selected Fiction unveiled. This book has been a long time in the making and it is almost ready to come out into the world. Edited by Karen Martin and Makhosazana Xaba. Cover design by Carla Kreuser.
Personal herstories Lihles story
First part – Inkanyiso My name is Lihle, (not real name). I chose not to use my real name for this story because I was scared of being victimized. Even though I’m not ashamed of the fact that I’m living…
Another Soul Lost
I received your news, but I did not cry! Am coming But not today When we see you, I won’t cry I’ll remember you like your mothers footsteps Home is far Heaven is closer Rejoice for my sake, peaceful…
Gloom Glamour Graves
When we lay for the last time to rest the whole event is filled and felt with many emotions and for the one being sent away only silence prevails. Yet so much more happens in these spaces that are sometimes…
Remembering Busi
Busi died on the 12th March 2007. One of the few poems she published on her blog “My Realities” was “Remember Me When I Am Gone” – This year I forgot the day but not Busi. I think of her…
DESIRE: A Four-Part Harmony.
Desire and desirability. It was the legendary philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who brilliantly observed that “ultimately , it is the desire, not the desired, that we love.” Desire and desirability have -through time – puzzled and mesmerized sages the world over….