African Writer Magazine

I offer you sleep, captor. I offer you this forest that I dragged behind me because you have the personality of foolish paper and the medicine of the wildflower... Abigail George | The White Gaze africanwriter.com/abigail-george… via @AfWriterMag

"the old hymns echoed in her mind as she stared at the stained glass murals, they were going to turn this old building into a club..." Marcel Aduda | Library of Congregants africanwriter.com/marcel-aduda-l… via @AfWriterMag

I grew up with books because there was nothing else. No internet. No games... I read on the floor. I read in the kitchen until my mother’s cooking fogged the windows. Misak Workneh | Everyday People africanwriter.com/misak-workneh-…

Normally, guests would take sips of tea or Coca-Cola and make themselves at home. These people tried very hard not to be comfortable... as if they were afraid the house would stain them in some way... Valerie Mokrane | Shame can be Mangoes africanwriter.com/valerie-mokran…

“You are hereby sentenced to death by firing squad. The sentence shall be carried out at dawn three days from this judgment. May God have mercy on your soul.” Chisom Oscar | The Sound of Nothing africanwriter.com/chisom-oscar-t… via @AfWriterMag

“The world is the same,” the old man says firmly, almost with a touch of anger... “We are the ones that change.” Houssam Boudaghia | The Other Moroccans africanwriter.com/houssam-boudag…

My name is Rain. I am a devout underachiever, a status I rejoice in. My efforts to keep a low profile in life have often failed. I keep trying... Gentle Culpepper | The Damn Ring africanwriter.com/gentle-culpepp…

You didn’t expect juggling between school and work to be easy, so you left no room for self-pity when the weight of it wore you out. If anything, you were grateful for having a job to pay your bills... Chris Odogwu | Lonesome africanwriter.com/chris-odogwu-l…

The Ann Petry Award offers $3,000 and book publication with Red Hen Press for an unpublished novel or story collection by a Black writer. The deadline is March 31, 2026. fundsforafricanwriters.com/win-3000-and-p… @wsacentre @AfWriterMag @WriitersHub @AfricanWriters @africanwriters_

Papa wants to give me a sip of his whiskey. Mama says no. I’m glad she does. I already tasted it while he was away, and the bitterness on my tongue made me imagine green virus curling over all my organs... Omokushe | Goats africanwriter.com/omokushe-goats/

My short story "A Warm Place Below the Surface " was today published in @AfWriterMag . You can read the story here: "over" africanwriter.com/charles-m-mwan….

I reached for my ball. She blocked me with her foot, then suddenly grabbed my right arm, pulling me close. Her hands trembled but her grip was iron... Moses Twizeyimana | Dust That Doesn’t Wash Off africanwriter.com/moses-twizeyim…

So I gathered petals, from grief, from prayer, from the hands of patients who whispered “thank you” like psalms. Now I wear His crown not as punishment, but as proof that thorns can birth flowers if love is the root Khayelihle Benghu - Thorns and Petals africanwriter.com/khayelihle-ben…

"Everyone I met on African roads would remind me of how fortunate I was to be a simple observer..." A Hero of his own Myth | Lawrence Winkler in Conversation africanwriter.com/a-hero-of-his-…

My friend Anthony sucked eggs with a pipette, adding to his collection from nests in Southern Africa. Every space was game: mangroves, beaches far from habitation, a field beside the drive-in movie... Eric Braude | At Dusk, South Africa africanwriter.com/eric-braude-at…

I heard Raekwon in a bodega spliced onto trap beats & a DoorDash ad— he sounded like ghost-in-the-machine / cut mid-bar / / chopped for content / not dead— just misplaced... DJ Benhaim | Masters of Wu Tang Challenge the Industry africanwriter.com/dj-benhaim-mas…

"She didn’t know that she had a very good bargaining chip here; her Britishness." #fypシ゚viralシfypシ゚viralシalシ #middlesbrough #unionstreet #gresham #teesside #Homeoffice #immigration #boro #northeastengland africanwriter.com/masimba-musodz… via @AfWriterMag

We stood on top of Africa, Mount Nel in the background, the curvature of the Earth vertigo inducing, the reaches of outer space within arm’s reach. Uhuru means ‘freedom’ in Swahili. It was my 28th birthday... Lawrence Winkler | Uhuru africanwriter.com/lawrence-winkl…

My husband had stopped having sex with me—it had been over a year since my last child and he barely touched me. Maybe I was too old for him now... Amina Nmakolo | Testimony of the Flesh africanwriter.com/amina-nmakolo-…

Her children’s children already had children of their own. Her skin was creased bark, her eyes cloudy like the morning mist on the hills, but her mind was sharp as the thorn of an nsatsi tree... Khosa J.K. Chambalo | That I May Rest africanwriter.com/khosa-j-k-cham…