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We all have a set of memories that are particularly painful to tap into. We box them up and push them behind our closets simply because they are too painful to think of, let alone narrate. The [...]

Dear You, A warrior in an ongoing battle, a spectator watching a struggle, or a veteran of one, does the battle ever stop? Ooh, if only we’d write about the ongoing wars. The clanking of ideas, [...]

Ziliwa enzi za kale, Anga ilibadilika Tukawa sote wateule, bara likatikisika Nasi pamwe na wale, Walau tukazindika Likaja bila kupusa, Wingu la mabadiliko Wimbi la matumaini, Ya uhuru lilifika [...]

Get me that dress black as night I don’t want to mess up this chance In block-shaped heels, I will rock and hop Let’s get to the party, let’s dance Bell bottom jeans would do right The one white [...]

My lips dine on your words Oh, sweet divine thee An angel from the sky-fall How much guilt do they who let you go? My Aphrodite, do you suit this cliché For your beauty leaves men senseless Even [...]

Mother never buys me any toys. I cry until I sleep. When I wake and remember what I was crying about, I wail some more. I understand now that she had the option of getting me a toy or feeding us. [...]

When we all struggled to mention America, Canada, Australia and other foreign countries, Nyambeche shouted Rwanda. A handful of us turned to her with what-did-you-just-say eyes as if she’d grown [...]

One hot afternoon, the science teacher came to class and asked us to pair up for a project. “I don’t have a partner.” I raised my hand. The class laughed at how desperate I sounded. “Who is [...]

Nasiche applied red lipstick over her swollen lips. She smiled as a throbbing pain pulsated through them. She replayed “TLC’s unpretty” track on her phone as she drew the eye pencil over her [...]

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 [...]