Abuja-Yola Flight Read: Lákíríboto Chronicles

Lakiriboto Chronicles by Ayodele Olofintuade

Blurb

A brief history of badly behaved women. Morieba, Moremi,Kudirat and Tola were victims of Alagbado clan’s long-held tradition of silence, connivance and duplicity, until Raufu Alagbado(aka OloriEbi, Raffie the Razor) sets off a series of events in an attempt to make his dead sister’s Will permanently disappear. Murder, betrayal, revenge..a woman’s body is a crime scene.

Reading Update

The book kicks off with the death of Alhaja and Moremi learning how to mourn and how society can make one invisible. We also meet Tolu a woman who is healing from a C-section delivery, not leaving her bed ignoring her new born baby and family. There is a guardian demon..I’m excited about this book. I had to buy a personal copy at ALitFest 2019.

Have you heard or read this book? Comment your thoughts Gem.

Guess whose back?! *in Nadia Rose’s voice* Its weird to hear rain in Yola caused an hour flight delay. 3rd term of Nigerian Law School begins, pray for me Gems.

My Max Air Experience

My Dad was excited to book with them because they are new airline. They made mistake registering my name which wasn’t corrected. However it was highlighted to boarding staff. I boarded hitch free. None of my belongings are missing or were tampered with. I enjoyed the MaxAir Flight and pastries. But not the initial turbulence or plane noise. Their ticketing staff were cordial though. I’m thankful for journey mercies. Now I have to unpack and settle into campus.

Have a splendid week ahead Gem!

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June #PoetryILove Selection.

Every month I feature poems that speak to me,whispers wisdom and are thought provoking in my #POETRYILOVE widget at the page’s bottom.

“we made our feast. The oil/
golden with spices, the skillet’s/
wicked, dissolving whisper/
reminding us of every old burn./
Savor of warm flesh”

This June’s Selection is ‘Husband is the Loveliest Word by Logan February published on Palette Poetry.

I love its sensuality and food erotic, wow!

Spotlight Read: Femme in Question

Femme In Question by Chebet Fatab

This is a vivid, fragrant voyage of planets and stars of hair and scarves in one galaxy of a room. I found this piece delightful.

It is a sci-fi twist to an African hair story which answers many questions. We are shown in this story that the wearer of this galaxy which we journey through cares for her hair but falters. It also answers, what does her hair look like underneath her scarf or hijab.

At the foot of her bed, there’s a red and green headscarf that reeks of beeswax and shea butter. Its tied in a careful knot, hot against white sheets. Beeswax, shea butter and sweat. The scents stay trapped in the tight satin threading like General Zod stuck in the shard Phantom Zone. They stay trapped until they can earn the deaths for their door to the outside world. But if you hold the material to your nose and inhale, you can smell galaxies of baby hair and planets of heavy strands twisted by fingers and stars fizzling from scalp massages. And if you breathe in again you can smell headaches and aching palms from empty planets where there aren’t any hands at all

Read it here published by AsEqual Africa.

More info..

Visit Chebet Fataba blog or connect on Twitter: @fatabak

Photo by Isatou Elitesha Jallow. Twitter: elite_sha. Instagram: @elitesha_.

Spotlight Read: Home by Ope Adedeji

Home by Ope Adedeji

Is intricate, peeling off layers on notions about being home within others and one’s self, shedding fractured light on fluid love, body acceptance, trauma and sexual abuse. It moved pieces of me inside me.

Read it published on Arts and Africa.

These men, I later think walking to campus, would never stop at your body, they want all of you, the crown of your head, and the sole of your feet. They want you, the mysteries you are moulded with, your soul, your silent resilient spirit, the arch of your body. They will not stop until you are stripped of all you have, until you are vulnerable and cold, until you are dust. Only then, will they leave you to find their next victim.

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She quotes Warsan Shire saying, I cannot make homes out of human beings.

Every woman learns to own her body embody love from others. Then deal with the world robbing her of her body autonomy at any time. And she has to search, find, love and protect herself over and over again.

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There are pretty weird places to find yourself and reclaim your body but nobody will tell you this. Television adverts tell you about evening you skin tone, and your mother talks about sitting like a lady, but no one will tell you that if they steal your body, it is not your fault. No one tells you that your vagina is yours. These are things my mother did not tell me, because her mother did not tell her. These are things I learn myself.

This masterful creative non-fiction piece explores unlearning negativity about one’s vagina and sexuality which the narrator goes through by its end. The quoted portion above makes me so grateful for my mother and other women in my girlhood and now womanhood who encourage(d) my body acceptance, confidence and sexual pleasure.

I remember my mother asked me during my childhood to stand over a mirror she’d placed on the floor to see my vagina. She said, ‘always look, care and respect her. She is you.’ That experience rooted my body confidence and self preservation. Almost a decade later, I named my vagina. Once I wrote, unlearn shame women. Remove the shame stuffed in your vagina. Let her breathe.

I shared this piece with some friends and on social media. Because hellooo I’m here for online fiction and creative non-fiction reviews! This is what people had to say:

“Loved reading the article… Great theme, beautifully written and captivating with every sentence.”-Anon

“I understand what the poet meant when she said it felt like she was looking for her body because I looked; for years. I understand what it means to look for answers you know you aren’t gonna get from places you long to get it from.

That’s why I tried not to cry, because it reminded me of things I’d rather not be reminded of. It was sad but I like how victorious the poet was at the end.
You own you! Not anybody else. Thanks, I loved it!!!” -Anon

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Victim Blaming, Slut Shaming, Self Denial, Sexual Abuse. Toxicity need to go!

Image source: “Oh Georgia” by Logor published with Home on Arts and Africa