book reviews

Alone in BabelJune 21, 2013

Caine Prize: The Whispering Trees, by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim

By Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva finds plenty to admire in Abubakar Adam Ibrahim’s Caine-shortlisted ‘The Whispering Trees’

Alone in BabelJune 14, 2013

Caine Prize: Foreign Aid, by Pede Hollist

By Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva reviews Pede Hollist’s ‘Foreign Aid’, shortlisted for the Caine Prize

Alone in BabelJune 7, 2013

Caine Prize: Miracle, by Tope Folarin

By Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

Tope Folarin’s Caine Prize-shortlisted ‘Miracle’, reviewed by Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva

Alone in BabelMay 7, 2013

The Science of the Iambs

By Jacob Silkstone

Jacob Silkstone on Nicholson Baker

Alone in BabelFebruary 25, 2013

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

By Abbigail N. Rosewood

Reviewed by Abbigail N. Rosewood

Alone in BabelDecember 21, 2012

Satantango

By Abbigail N. Rosewood

Reviewed by Abbigail N. Rosewood

Alone in BabelNovember 21, 2012

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

By Abbigail N. Rosewood

Reviewed by Abbigail N. Rosewood

Alone in BabelOctober 27, 2012

Murakami’s 1Q84

By Abbigail N. Rosewood

Reviewed by Abbi Nguyen

Alone in BabelSeptember 28, 2012

Habibi

By Abbigail N. Rosewood

Reviewed by Abbi Nguyen

Alone in BabelSeptember 12, 2012

The Best American Short Stories 2011

By Abbigail N. Rosewood

Reviewed by Abbi Nguyen

In the Magazine

A Word from the Editor

Don’t cry like a girl. Be a (wo)man.

Why holding up the women in our lives can help build a nation, in place of tearing it down.

Literature

This House is an African House

"This house is an African house./ This your body is an African womanâ€™s body..." By Kadija Sesay.

Literature

Shoots

"Sapling legs bend smoothly, power foot in place,/ her back, parallel to solid ground,/ makes her torso a table of support..." By Kadija Sesay.

Literature

A Dry Season Doctor in West Africa

"She presses her toes together. I will never marry, she says. Jamais dans cette vie! Where can I find a man like you?" By...

In the Issue

Property of a Sorceress

"She died under mango trees, under kola nut/ and avocado trees, her nose pressed to their roots,/ her hands buried in dead leaves, her...

Literature

What Took Us to War

"What took us to war has again begun,/ and what took us to war/ has opened its wide mouth/ again to confuse us." By...

Literature

Sometimes, I Close My Eyes

"sometimes, this is the way of the world,/ the simple, ordinary world, where things are/ sometimes too ordinary to matter. Sometimes,/ I close my...

Literature

Quarter to War

"The footfalls fading from the streets/ The trees departing from the avenues/ The sweat evaporating from the skin..." By Jumoke Verissimo.

Literature

Transgendered

"Lagos is a chronicle of liquid geographies/ Swimming on every tongue..." By Jumoke Verissimo.

Fiction

Sketches of my Mother

"The mother of my memories was elegant. She would not step out of the house without her trademark red lipstick and perfect hair. She...

Fiction

The Way of Meat

"Every dayâ€”any dayâ€”any one of us could be picked out for any reason, and we would be... Weâ€™d part like hair, pushing into the...

Fiction

Between Two Worlds

"Ursula spotted the three black students immediately. Everyone did. They could not be missed because they kept to themselves and apart from the rest...."...

Essays

Talking Gender

"In fact it is often through the uninformed use of such words that language becomes a tool in perpetuating sexism and violence against women...

Essays

Unmasking Female Circumcision

"Though the origins of the practice are unknown, many medical historians believe that FGM dates back to at least 2,000 years." Gimel Samera looks...

Essays

Not Just A Phase

"...in the workplace, a person can practically be forced out of their job by discrimination, taking numerous days off for fear of their physical...

Essays

The Birth of Bigotry

"The psychology of prejudice demands that we are each our own moral police". Maria Amir on the roots of bigotry and intolerance.

Fiction

The Score

"The person on the floor was unmistakeably dead. It looked like a woman; she couldnâ€™t be sure yet..." By Hawa Jande Golakai.