Issue: Food: An anthology of Short stories and Poems from Africa

Hello everyone, 

Welcome to Bold 2022. 

In this Issue, Food: An Anthology of Short stories and Poems from Africa, we bring you stories and poems that were longlisted for our 2022 Bold Continental Call that run under the theme, Food (In Africa). With this theme, we hoped to capture the complexity of food beyond the sustenance it provides us in Africa. The complexity we find in access to, production, preparation, and availability of it. We were not disappointed. 

As a continent, we boast of rich food traditions that are filled with a myriad of flavours, aromas, and colours. And it’s hard to describe the planting, harvesting, preparation, and eating of this food without speaking of the melodic sounds or the communal spirit that accompany these activities. However, this abundance and exuberance of activity belie a lack of the same in parts of the continent even within the same countries. Where families and communities are decimated by a lack of access to an adequate food supply. Caused by natural factors: drought and famine, and mudslides; and man-made factors: civil strife and conflict and human displacement, and disproportionate allocation of government resources. Others too struggle to access food and other basic human needs due to the high costs of living and unemployment that are characteristic of several countries on the continent. This increase in food insecurity for many on the continent is further exacerbated by climate change.   

Our interaction with food, we understand, is also deeply personal. From within its encapsulation moments of our lives emerge as our minds, triggered by the sight and aroma of it, trace paths down forgotten roads to conjured feelings of happiness, laughter, community, loss, pain, and fears that lay dormant —our Memories. Our food cultures and eating habits contain too convoluted pathways to self-discovery. For the one struggling with an eating disorder or judged inadequate for a “lack of cooking skills” or constantly negotiating the pressure to provide as the “breadwinner.” Food is not just a precursor to our lives, one to be forgotten once we are done with the meal, but is an integral facilitator to their continuity as is showcased here. Within the worlds unfolding before us, food is a healing balm, a unifier, a bridge, and a lifeline often just as it creates tension and conflicts.

This Issue is in two sections with the short stories and poems that were Shortlisted for the 2022 Bold Continental Callin the fore section. To start us off is Binnegoed the winning Short Story. Set in South Africa, Binnegoed follows a young mother as reaches past shattered dreams and broken hearts to embrace new beginnings. Through the protagonist, we have a glimpse into the ails faced by the broader society. The Weight of grief sees a mother grappling with the loss of her child as she clings to the memories of him. When is it ever the right time to let go of these?

Takulandirani follows a young man in the eve of his departure from a country that had offered him temporary residence. With his departure date imminent he yearns for a meaningful connection if it’s not too late. Amid the sounds of sizzling onions within cinnamon-infused spaces, an older woman ─she thought she’d seen it all grapples with recent betrayals in Até Tu! Is there room for renewed hope? And finally, Jollof Rice is of a young love that hangs in balance as the story captures a young couple’s hopes for a future together past ethnic violence.

Our Shortlist poetry section opens up with That Time Your Friend Called You As Sissy As A Plate of Àmàlà and Gbẹ̀gìrì Cooked by Your Orí as the author speaks of finding self while going about life, while in How to Cook Banga Soup the author remembers loved ones that are gone too soon as they recall meals once shared. Mama’s Jollof is a celebration of a mother’s love even as the pots remain empty now, while In Nightime Rapture is a recollection of a fun meal at the end of a long day. Mama can make miracles is another celebration of the wonders a mother can produce for her family.

Our second short story section opens with  How I Met My Husband, in which a young woman reels from the pressures of navigating a new marriage, home chores, and a burgeoning career. And how food tears apart just as easily as it’s said to bind when she contemplates the old adage, “the way to a man’s heart…” In A Culinary Unity, a family can begin to see each other during a shared meal forging new bridges. While a young woman reminisces in An Ebony and Symphony about a simple but easily disdained meal that contains memories of her mother’s love. In A Cooked Healing, a young woman finds new healing for her shattered dreams just as a young man confronts the origins of his faith in Haram, and questions the food cultures he has held onto so far that are associated with this.

And finally, our second poetry section begins with A Pact For Healing, an ode to food and is followed by Home, where the author’s dreams of faraway places are anchored by the practical words from her grandmother and love for zengwe. In Lusaniya the author reminisces about the boisterous sounds around shared meals served on the large open-faced usually metallic plate, and of loss since. All the things I like about my father pays homage to a parent’s love and is a reminder of how food remains a conveyor of this even in the silence of death. Finally, Isitshwala speaks of the simple delights of the author’s favoured food.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2022 Bold Continental Call: Food (in Africa).

Congratulations to Vuyokazi Ngemntu and Abdulwasiu Ishola Ayodele authors of the winning Short story, Binnegoed, and Poem, That Time Your Friend Called You As Sissy As A Plate of Àmàlà and Gbẹ̀gìrì Cooked by Your Orí, respectively.

Congratulations to all the longlist authors.

BOLD is an annual Continental Call run by Ibua Publishing through its online Magazine Ibua Journal. 

Join us this Sunday, 20th November 2022 at 16:00hrs East Africa Time for a conversation with the shortlisted authors for Bold 22, Food: Short stories and poems from Africa. For more details check out our Twitter handle @ibuajournal.

Enjoy your read.