Editor's Note
In our continued quest to showcase new and established writers from East Africa and beyond, we are thrilled to announce Kikwetu Issue 8. This is a special issue that features flash fiction pieces from our first writing contest in which we received our highest number of submissions yet. You can see our longlist here.
The work in this issue is by writers from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. All though we received submissions from across the continent and beyond, only six stories were selected as finalists, with "Nalongo" by Moses Abukutsa emerging as the winning story. Through a lyrical style, "Nalongo" captures escapades in nightly Uganda that bring forth dark histories. “Action Film” tells of a boy who has to contend with an overbearing and overzealous mother. “Amoto” speaks about two boys who find a moment of salvation in an unlit church, comfort in a church building. “Onion” is about a young girl who ventures out into the night in a new place fraught with danger. “The Manifestations of an Exiled Clairvoyant” is speculative writing that takes the epistolary form with an infant as the addressee. “Submersion” takes us into a mysterious underwater world. We love how much these stories are able to do in such small spaces.
We appreciate the writers who sent us their very best work to make this issue possible.
We wish you the very best as you read our flash fiction collection for 2023.
The Editors
Christine, Ruth, Michael and John
The work in this issue is by writers from Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. All though we received submissions from across the continent and beyond, only six stories were selected as finalists, with "Nalongo" by Moses Abukutsa emerging as the winning story. Through a lyrical style, "Nalongo" captures escapades in nightly Uganda that bring forth dark histories. “Action Film” tells of a boy who has to contend with an overbearing and overzealous mother. “Amoto” speaks about two boys who find a moment of salvation in an unlit church, comfort in a church building. “Onion” is about a young girl who ventures out into the night in a new place fraught with danger. “The Manifestations of an Exiled Clairvoyant” is speculative writing that takes the epistolary form with an infant as the addressee. “Submersion” takes us into a mysterious underwater world. We love how much these stories are able to do in such small spaces.
We appreciate the writers who sent us their very best work to make this issue possible.
We wish you the very best as you read our flash fiction collection for 2023.
The Editors
Christine, Ruth, Michael and John