Hey everyone,

Since we opened our doors to writers from all over Africa, we’ve been in awe of the differing voices and the choices writers made to make their work theirs. Writers often become indistinguishable from their voices; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie immerses readers in her stories with a deftness that makes places you’ve never visited, like Enugu in the late 90s, seem like memories. Dan Brown places his characters in a burning crucible and puts a ticking clock between them and oblivion. So what constitutes your voice as a writer?

 Is it the breaks your readers have come to expect of you? Or the way you approach your scents and sensations? Does your voice have to be distinguishable with every essay or story you write?  Zia Yusuf’s “Stop Saying Sorry” is all about finding your voice. In the essay, she writes about her relationship with apologies and the cultural and societal influences behind her habits.

For Irenosen Akharele, finding your voice likely means not shirking from truths. “The Proposal” tells a tale of a couple’s night of intimacy through the lens of the drugs they consume and the things they do (we really tried not to spoil it.) 

Over generations, humanity has internalised many ills and prejudices,  and this is perfectly depicted in Talitha Etta’s “The Office. Set in a matriarchal society, we follow a man who is sexually assaulted by his boss. In its subversion, Talitha Etta’s “The Office” offers a riveting story that confronts society’s “norms” with every line.

The ramifications of a society with moral decadence and a technological boom are explored deeply in Iniabasi Jeffrey’s “Augmented,” where the stakes are higher than ever. Augmented is a thriller set in a bleak Cyberpunk fever dream of the Nigerian future, and it follows a suspense-filled race to find the light in the dark underbelly of a Nigerian tech slum. 

  Poetry is transcendent. With every word infused with more meaning than you thought possible, many poems found us. Here are some poems that had us from their first lines:

“A Dance of Devotion” by God'swill Icha

“Khadija” by Jamuel Yaw Asare

 “Let Me” by Lydia Anopue 

“An Ode to My Past Self” by Abdulbasit Abdusalam

If you have a poem, essay or story brewing that touches on any subjects or themes that allow you to use your voice, we’d love to read what you have to say.

See you on Iko.

Albert Nkereuwem, Iko Africa