Creative Nonfiction

Even as I stretch my mouth into some semblance of a decent smile, my spineless lips curl in on themselves, retreating towards my throat the way the ocean recoils from the shore and slithers back [...]

In China, there is a custom that has been passed down for ages. It is called the Zhuazhou where during the one-year celebration of a baby, different items, each symbolizing a career path are [...]

It’s alarming how many youths and even adults drift through life like leaves on water, devoid of purpose. They move aimlessly, lacking conscious direction or goals, resembling zombies in a silent [...]

With the exception of only a few tricks a human being can make, I reckon there is nothing as lethal as a good smile can be. There is just something irresistible about a beautiful smile, so much [...]

In my country, we love and loathe deadlines in equal measure. We hate being told by which date we should do things, but then we don’t do anything unless the deadline for the thing is tomorrow. In [...]

I was five years old when I woke up to a flooded house. Cloudy water poured in through the door and then through the open windows. Bearing pieces of wood, grass, and whatever else could float. [...]

What gift surpasses the treasure of a mother? Over the years, my mother has remained a constant, treating me with the same tenderness she did when I was a child. Her daily calls to ensure I’ve [...]

Changing malodorous diapers. Extinguishing wild tantrums. Navigating your way through a minefield of sharp toys strewn across the carpet. Paying off titanosauric school fees. Tolerating cyclic [...]

“Ni msichana, aah, wewe bado hujazaa,” the plump 30-something-year-old lady glances down at the baby in my arms. Her name, she says, is Ruth. We’ve just come back from the hospital because the [...]

When the call from my brother came it was still unexpected. As always, he started the conversation with an offensive—that’s the nature of our relationship, it’s always been. “Since the surgery, [...]