The End of Elections
by Paula Akugizibwe Jose Saramago’s Seeing is no Arab spring. Revolutionary rhetoric is merely seasoning to the brew of drama stirred up by a government after residents of its capital city paralyse the democratic system by casting an avalanche of blank votes. Politicians are perplexed by this deplorable disregard for democracy. A cascade of […]
On Mermaids and Microwaves
Diriye Osman is a storyteller – on page, stage and canvas. His writing has appeared in publications including Poetry Review, Kwani? and SCARF. “Fairytales For Lost Children”, his debut collection of short stories, is based on his experiences of exile and homosexuality in the Somali community. He spoke with Anna Jäger. Anna Jäger: Diriye, let me start with a […]
A Brief History of Presidential Libraries
by Stacy Hardy Léopold Sédar Senghor, Aimé Césaire and George Pompidou were friends at École Nationale de la France d’Outre-Mer in Paris. They were in love with liberty. They met in the library to read African-American poets of the Harlem Renaissance and French Symbolist poets. Once president, Senghor began to build his own library – a […]
In Praise of Complexity
by Martin Kimani Adéwálé Àjàdí is a contrary brother striving to live based on social codes that persist and remain useful despite being displaced, suppressed, ignored and undermined. His book is a loving gift to this continent of brothers and sisters indoctrinated away from selflove and toward heartbreaking mimicry of most anything upheld in wintry lands. […]
Translations – A Call For Proposals
This call is published in the December 2013 edition of Chronic Books, which accompanies the print quarterly the Chronic. This edition foregrounds the politics and practice of translating Yambo Ouologuem into English, Proust into Haitian Creole, cowboy noir into Nollywood, Wordsworth into Zapotec and more. To read the books magazine, get a […]