Survivor’s Guide to Smelling Naais
[hr] In the pre-Apocalypse, Zayaan Khan nurses the Apartheid hangover that carved up sensibilities, lives deep in the crevice of being and after more than 20 years still sticks to the roof of the mouth. To empty out the bitter taste, she sucks on fennel flowers and takes her sweetness where she can get it […]
Third Transition
[hr] Shoks Mzolo and Bongani Kona trace the path of South Africa’s transformation from a criminal apartheid state to a criminal neoliberal state, where a handful of old-monied white capitalists still turn the screws and call the shots, while a newly monied black bourgeoisie stands to attention. The authors examine the knowns and unknowns of […]
Bread of Life
[hr] Commercial bread contains additives to accelerate production and to improve the look and texture of the bread, all making it less than bread, an ancient and versatile staple. Baking his own, Rustum Kozain considers the history of bread, including the ancient history of sourdough. [hr] At a small, independent furniture workshop where my father […]
SOMEWHERE NEAR THE BEGINNING OF THE MATCH
By Abdourahman A. Waberi* (translated by Carolyn Shread). A small coastal town on the southern shore of the Red Sea, one market evening. There’s a crowd in the main square, deep in darkness, in this market town that lives by the rhythm of night tides and moonlight. The monsoon is at the city gates, herding its […]
The Complete Gentleman
In London Kamwendo’s interpretation of Amos Tutuola’s sly satire of spectral global capitalism and Afro-modernity, debt is paid off with body parts traded on the open market, human flesh carries magnetic appeal and beauty is fatal. This graphic story features in the Chronic (August 2016), an edition in which we explore ideas around mythscience, science fiction and […]