Hello all, Welcome to this Issue of the Ibua Journal. It’s been a few months since the lockdowns triggered by COVID-19 were lifted in Uganda. Though tuli wawelu, some days it still feels strange to be ‘outside’. As we move about —free at last— there remains a gnawing concern for if we have […]
Sixty years ago, a group of writers history would call the founding fathers of African literature gathered within the dense walls of Makerere University’s Ivory Tower to discuss a topic that still raffles literary feathers today. It was a conference like none before. In those glorious days, Makerere University was still the “Harvard of […]
My first introduction to poetry was when I was first 7 years old. I’d like to say that I fell in love with the art form and haven’t looked back since, but that would be a lie. I didn’t think much of poetry then. If anything I thought it cheesy. But then again, the […]
In June 2004, Jośe Mourinho arrived at Stamford Bridge. He was like nothing that had been seen before. His tactical prowess, adept use of the media especially against those he deemed contrarian, and an unmatched temerity ─referring to himself as “the special One” combined to make for a seemingly unstoppable force. While his record […]
An Orchestra of Minorities, published by Little, Brown and Company, is Chigozie Obioma’s second book and the second to be shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize. It is a plea by a guardian spirit to the court of celestial beings of Igbo mythology for understanding on behalf of its host, Chinonso. The spirit narrates what […]
I was that overly excited audience member, seated on the last row, you know the one designated for the camera crew and latecomers, not that I know anything about adjusting lenses and the variations of the light for a theatrical performance. I’d missed the time detail on the invitation card in my possession to the […]
by Caleb Azumah Nelson Besides, sometimes, to resolve desire, it’s better to let the thing bloom. To feel this thing, to let it catch you unaware, to hold onto the ache. What is better than believing you are heading towards love? Book Blurb: Two young people meet at a pub in South East London. […]
Light poured into the room through the big windows. The flimsy curtains swayed gently, disturbing motes floating in the shafts of light, and cast soft shadows on the opposite wall. The white paint seemed to be the latest layer added on the wall. It held a teal tinge to it, darker in some parts […]
Muto leapt to his right, stumbling and falling as the boar’s tusks swept past his skinny thigh and dug into the hardened bark of the Chima tree, splintering it and sending bits and pieces of wood flying onto his face. The animal was so close he could smell the mud and dung caked in […]
The school’s TATA lorry hovered to a stop, its engines still panting from the long flight it had been on. Eight high school boys leaped off it amid appreciatory slaps to the lorry’s metal frame. It rested on metallic feet that folded out from each of its corners. “Team SharpSharp?” Kaks hollered under the […]
O! Wine tapper my ally Bring down thy wine pot Tonight, I want to make a full From your relish hand-craft The winery of boys in men It left them in a quest of ills As they see no good in taking it There they behold foes in folks Brotherhood at lips […]
It’s complicated Not in a cursive, sophisticated Status seductive way That can fit into a thread on Facebook Or a trend on Twitter Following a hook-up turned make-up Break-up and make-up More like the man with a goddess for a wife A palace for a home A nation’s GDP for a bank account A […]
