Saraba Magazine is excited to share the newest issue of the magazine published with the theme of “Solitude.” This forty-page issue includes poems by Saddiq Dzukogi, Olajide Salawu, Rasaq Gbolahan, Ajoke, Paul Njoroge, Kechi Nomu, Sihle Ntuli, Ekweremadu Uchenna, Yusuff Omoloja, Mathias Orhero and Freeman David. There are short story contributions by Efe Paul, Iquo Eke, Adebola Rayo, and Dare Falowo, as well as a nonfiction piece by Arthur Anyaduba.

From the Publishers’ Note:

“How do we contemplate solitude?

“With silence, hands cradling chin, eyes staring into space in an empty room without articles of interest, an atmosphere of quotidian existence of devotion to matters of the heart?

Find here a cache of short poems and short stories by promising writers from Africa, writing in Africa. Follow them as they grapple with different phases of solitude: from avulsion of romantic partners to a search for solitude that leads to a brief stint in a mental institution. And in your solitary experience, while you grasp at the realities of others, ask yourself what it means to be alone.”

Saraba Magazine is one of the leading literary journals in Nigeria, publishing the work of emerging writers within the country and across the African continent. Our focus is on quality writing that shows immense promise and we often publish writers in the earliest stages of their career. As increased attention is drawn towards contemporary African writing, Saraba offers its readers a unique perspective by promoting the work of writers who have been published little or not at all. The website contains a growing repository of fiction, poetry, essays and interviews by writers based in and outside Nigeria.

Founded in 2009, Saraba has published sixteen magazine issues and six poetry chapbooks. All of this can be downloaded for free on the website as PDFs.

To read the stories, poems, and essay related to the theme, please visit http://www.sarabamag.com/the-solitude-issue/ to download a copy of the issue.

For enquiries, please write Adaudo, Saraba’s Managing Editor at editor@sarabamag.com.

Source: http://bplolinenews.blogspot.co.uk/

'Black literary writers with African roots (though some grew up elsewhere), mostly young cosmopolitans who write in English, are making a splash in the book world, especially in the United States. They are on best-seller lists, garner high profile reviews and win major awards, in America and in Britain. Ms. Adichie, 36, the author of "Americanah," which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction this year, is a prominent member of an expanding group that includes Dinaw Mengestu, Helen Oyeyemi, NoViolet Bulawayo, Teju Cole, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor and Taiye Selasi, among others.' 

'After years of political and social turmoil, positive changes in several African nations are helping to greatly expand the number of writers and readers. Newer awards like the Caine Prize for African Writing have helped, too, as have social media, the Internet and top M.F.A programs.'

' ... Iately new names from across the continent are becoming part of popular literary consciousness. "Purple Hibiscus," "Half of a Yellow Sun" and more recently "Americanah" have brought international acclaim for Nigerian author du jour, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

She joins a growing list of popular African authors -- including NoViolet Bulawayo, Binyavanga Wainaina, Taiye Selasi, Lauren Beukes, Alain Mabanckou -- who have been steadily picking up steam --and fans -- across the globe over the last several years.'

'The indie authors in romance like Myne Whitman (A Heart to Mend), Nkem Ivara (Closer than a Brother), Rudo Muchoko (When Love Strikes) and Kiru Taye (author of the highly popular Men of Valour series, which has done extremely well on Amazon), who are pushing the boundaries and mining spaces traditional publishers have neglected. 

In speculative fiction you have self-pubbed authors like Masimba Musodza who publishes in both Shona and English, and whose novel, Hebert Wants to Come Home, was first serialised on JukePop Serials. Running parallel to the work of indie authors, it is also interesting to see new developments by Ivor Hartmann, publisher of AfroSF, and Marius du Plessis of Fox and Raven Publishing who are creating alternative platforms for writers working in Genre Fiction.

It will also be interesting to see whether authors like Mukoma Wa Ngugi and Deon Meyer exert a large enough gravitational pull for new writers to enter the crime genre. Already in Nigeria there is a new start-up, Cordite Books, headed by Helon Habila which hopefully will ignite a spark in crime fiction written on the continent.'

"And when something is good, it obviously catches people's attention. Before it would not have reached any mainstream; now it is, thanks to bloggers and local content production."

'Another interesting/new factor to add to the literary scene has been the emergence of online bloggers and critics. Publishers have often complained that newspapers on the continent have little real interest in literature, which is why bloggers like Zahrah Nesbitt (Bookshy), Sarah Norman (White Whale), James Murua (James Murua’s Literature Blog), Ainehi Edoro (Brittle Paper), Nana-Ama Kyerematen (Afri*Diaspora), Vitabu and many others now occupy a crucial space in terms of reviewing and publicising books from around Africa to their potential readership across the world. This can only be enriching because book blogs (even for large western publishers) have become the essential, go-to place for readers today and can create a buzz for works that might otherwise be ignored in mainstream media.'