I reclaimed my love of reading in 2015 and since then, I have been exploring the diversity of reading options out there. Care to read about my adventures?
March was Women's History Month, in which we celebrate women’s contributions to history, culture and society. This year’s theme is “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories”, acknowledging the women—both past and present—who have been active in all forms of media and storytelling. This year, my readings have taken me all the way to Zimbabwe with …
Continue reading Truth-telling through Surrealism in Yvette Ndlovu’s Drinking From Graveyard Wells
Originally published in the Sunday, February 12th, 2022 edition of the Stabroek News Photo of Akwaeke Emezi Akwaeke Emezi used to intimidate me. They have bounced from genre to genre, storyform to storyform, leaving ground-breaking and provocative work in their wake since their debut novel Freshwater shook the literary world in 2018. Since then, they …
Continue reading Love and Loss Collide in Akwaeke Emezi’s You made a Fool of Death with your Beauty
Originally published in the Sunday, November 13th, 2022 edition of the Stabroek News In 2019, two African MFA students—Yvette Ndlovu from Zimbabwe and Shingai Kakunda from Kenya—met while studying in the United States. Appalled by the lack of resources for and about Black speculative writers in their programmes, the two would frequently dream about creating …
Continue reading Voodoonauts Presents: (Re)Living Mythology – A Collection of Alumni Writing
Originally published in the Sunday, October 2nd, 2022 edition of the Stabroek News Dear friends,The best craft happens when writers are safe, well-fed and comfortable. Currently, Teri Clarke (aka Zin E. Rocklyn) is trying to start a newer safer life so that she can meet her basic physical, emotional and mental health needs. But she …
Continue reading Monstrosity is Self-Defence in Zin E. Rocklyn’s Horror Stories
Originally published in the Sunday, September 4th, 2022 edition of the Stabroek News Sometimes the perfect book just happens to find you, ticking all the boxes you want for a review even before you knew those boxes needed to be ticked. I have been hearing the name Darcie Little Badger floating around the literary landscape …
Originally published in the Sunday, August 7th, 2022 edition of the Stabroek News “What is life if we don’t repeat our stories?” - Boubacar from “Liquid Twilight” by Ytasha Womack I am always mindful about what I want to review for Emancipation Day. It’s important to continually re-examine the history of slavery and colonisation, and …
Continue reading Africa Risen: A showcase of African speculative fiction
Sisterhoods and motherhoods are complicated affairs, filled with love and joy as well as chaos and betrayals. The Mothers by Brit Bennett is a book that shows these complex relationships by following the lives of three young African Americans and exploring how their connections with their mothers – biological, adoptive, or just the elderly church …
Continue reading Love, Shame and Betrayal in Brit Bennett’s The Mothers
Originally published in the Sunday, June 5th, 2022 edition of the Stabroek News Dear reader,The review below doesn’t fully capture just how much Patsy affected me as a reader. From the first line, I was punted back to my childhood, to the moment that I, too, stood in the American Embassy line waiting to go …
Continue reading Queer Immigrant Realities showcased in Nicole Dennis-Benn’s Patsy
Seraj Captures the Moon by G. Willow Wilson and Sara Alfageeh Cast your eyes westward on Sunday Evening and you may just see it: the crescent moon hanging low on the horizon, signalling the end of Ramadan. In just a few hours, billions of Muslims around the world will jointly celebrate the holiday at the …
Continue reading Once Upon an Eid: an anthology of childhood hope and joy
April finds me in a mischievous mood, the joyful memories of Easters past working their way around my subconscious. It’s a season of quick laughter and a hunger for fun, which made me crave a book about tricksters and mischief-makers, and the chaotic energy they radiate. For this reason, I am returning to the first …
Continue reading Chaos is Power in Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
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