Jack Little (Founding Editor of The Ofi Press magazine in Mexico) interviews David Shook (Founding Editor of Phoneme Media, a nonprofit media company that publishes literature in translation from languages including Isthmus Zapotec, Lingala, Mongolian, and Uyghur). Highlights of their conversation include Mexican poetry, translation, the place of location in poetry and Phoneme Media’s
Q & A with David Shook on Poetry and Translation Read More »
by Mia Arderne On Shackville and Rhodes Must Fall Rhodes Must Fall is a student and worker led movement protesting for the decolonization of the University of Cape Town. The movement achieved the removal a prominent statue of imperialist Cecil John Rhodes in April 2015 on UCT’s upper campus. Rhodes Must Fall is associated
The Imagined World of People who Condemn Radical Protest Read More »
Dzekashu MacViban Hardly do debut singles posses the ambition that “Balafon” has. Indeed, from its catchy chorus and afropolitan theme, D.A. Sets the tone for what to expect. Nevertheless, D.A. isn’t the only one who is ambitious in the song– the beat, produced by PROZ, is equally ambitious. In fact, the beat is aggressive,
“December Rain” highlights familiar, yet very important issues: displacement and homecoming. With an eye for detail and a keen sense of belonging (the kind of belonging that many citizens of the world have in common), Elsa’s story takes us from introspection to reality and from Germany to Cameroon. She woke up to the gentle sound
December Rain by Elsa M’bala Read More »
i feel like an empty baseball field- serene, empty & free like space each time the gates of your memory shot itself in my head, each time i do not think of you; my heart becomes a ship without an anchor, an empty longvehicle without doors, blistering for you cease to love me & i
"Poem X" by Stanley Princewill McDaniels Read More »
Ayodeji Rotinwa As one writes this, it seems likely that in a few weeks, the most powerful person in the world and the President of the United States of America may be a woman. Months ago, a brave young girl defied men of Jihad and suicide vests, the kind children and even adults have nightmares
Unapologetic Voices of Women in 'Hear Word' Read More »
Illustration Credit: Dante Besong 2015 has been a busy and experimental year for us at Bakwa and we’re very thankful to the interns, editors and contributors who’ve worked very hard to make sure we produce the kind of quality articles we uphold. We continue to value our readers and are very concerned with what they
The Ten Most-Read Pieces of 2015 Read More »
In the second project for our special End of Year music feature(s), Sihle Ntuli curates a playlist which is the product of a collaboration between Bakwa and Ja magazine. The playlist explores the African youth in the global context as it highlights music from different parts of Africa. “Phola” is a colloquial term meaning to
#Phola; Curated by Sihle Ntuli Read More »
Percy Zvomuya Originally published on NBO. In the first piece for our special End of Year music feature(s), Percy Zvomuya bemoans imaginary as well as real encounters; the latter highlights the meeting between Thomas Mapfumo and Jonah Sithole, and how it shaped Chimurenga (revolutionary struggle) music. I am in the habit of moaning about
Encounters; Jonah Sithole and the Chimurenga Sound Read More »
Imbolo Mbue Photo: Kiriko Sano Originally published on Brittle Paper Imbolo Mbue burst into the limelight late last year after signing a million dollar deal with Random House for her debut manuscript. The novel titled Behold the Dreamers follows the travails of a Cameroonian immigrant and a Lehman Brothers executive during the 2008 financial
Wall Street Journal Unveils the Face Behind Africa’s Most Anticipated Novel Read More »
