Culture & Society

‘The Impetus of My Life and Work is Love.’ OluTimehin Adegbeye's First Draft

Olutimehin AdegbeyeNovember 27, 2020

Writer and social justice advocate, OluTimehin Adegbeye, says her biggest motivation is love. Love, she explains, 'is exponentially more demanding and more transformative than what it has been reduced to in the popular imagination. It sits at the centre of what I consider the greatest intellectual and literary enquiries.'

First DraftInterviewsOctober/November 2020

The Measure of Our Lives Gender and the English Language

Grey AtandaNovember 25, 2020

Gender is a complex system that has more to do with society, culture and time periods than it has to do with biology. Read more.

International Women's Day - EssaysOctober/November 2020

‘No One Sees the World the Way You Do.’ Kemi Falodun’s First Draft

Kemi FalodunNovember 13, 2020

Writer, journalist and author of ‘Soundbender: The Many Lives of Beautiful Nubia’, Kemi Falodun, believes good writing requires practice. ‘One must make an effort to improve. Although there are factors—social, financial, environmental—that may facilitate or impede one’s capacity to develop the skill.’

First DraftInterviewsOctober/November 2020

This photo is for our essay on Booked and Busy

Booked and Busy The Politics of Literary Prizes

Innocent IloNovember 4, 2020

Opinion is the basis of all literary prizes. Writing is rewarded by systems and institutions of opinion. Read more.

October/November 2020

‘I Don’t Believe in Canons.’ Ibrahim Anifowoshe’s First Draft

Ibrahim AnifowosheOctober 30, 2020

Author of ‘We Need New Names’, Ibrahim Anifowoshe, is currently interested in Islamic representation in Nigerian fiction. ‘I am fascinated by Jinn stories and Muslims know many of it. It’s like The Conjuring but with a Qur’an and prayer mat.’ Read our interview.

First DraftInterviewsOctober/November 2020Reading Eid

Anti-Racism Beyond the West Africa’s Place in the Global Anti-Racist Discourse

Chinonye OtuonyeOctober 29, 2020

As we continue to live in a moment where #EndSARS protesters have made explicit the issue of police brutality in Nigeria, connections drawn between other movements outside and within the continent provide a framework to think about liberation as a global struggle. Read more.

October/November 2020

Cosmic Anger #EndSARS and the Making of a Movement

Joshua Segun-LeanOctober 26, 2020

Looking beyond SARS will necessitate an understanding of intersecting and inherited struggles. We are inheritors of Haiti’s revolution, whether we choose to be or not, and we are dependent on the Movement for Black Lives in America as we are on the movement against Gender-Based Violence in Namibia. Read more.

October/November 2020Special Focus: #EndSARS

‘Enough is Enough.’ #EndSARS: Why Three Women Defied Governor Wike’s Protest Ban

Shayera DarkOctober 23, 2020

Kimora Omotosho, a university student at the #EndSARS protest in Port Harcourt, said her friend’s mother did not allow him to leave the house to join the protest until he threatened to kill himself. Read more.

October/November 2020Special Focus: #EndSARS

‘I am only interested in writing that thrills and challenges me.’ TJ Benson’s First Draft

TJ BensonOctober 9, 2020

When it comes to writing, writer and visual artist, TJ Benson, is unsure about the meaning of talent. ‘I have met terrible writers who are said to be extremely talented,’ Benson says. Read our interview.

First DraftInterviewsOctober/November 2020