I gave birth to my second-born (and last) child on September 6. Amia, my daughter’s name, means "God’s will" in my language Leb Lango. My husband Jason (🇯🇲), and I (🇺🇬) are thrilled. A continuation of the most important story I’ll ever write...

To be published for a second time in a top literary journal is an honor. To be published in the same top journal alongside Kwame Dawes, director of the African Poetry Book Fund and the current poet laureate of Jamaica, is a double honor. November brings blessings... #Grateful

Book mail from home, book from mail from Uganda. Feeling: A Poetry Anthology Celebrating Iconic Ugandan Women. Thank you, Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation. Thank you, Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva. What a good day.

📣 Applications are open! Obsidian Foundation offers an annual one-week online retreat for fifty Black poets of African descent. Apply by October 1, 2025, here ⇢ obsidianfoundation.co.uk/retreat-2025/

One of my favorite artists. My Amara. Age 2.

7 African Novelists in Conversation With Their Literary Ancestors: These writers pay homage to the African-Atlantic authors who came before them electricliterature.com/7-african-no...

Free virtual event Kwame Dawes, African Poetry Book Fund founder, and Chris Abani discuss building an archive of African poetry on Tuesday, August 12, 2025. Sign up for the online event here: citylights.com/events/kwame...

The African Literature Ecosystem Used to Be Unstoppable. What Went Wrong? bit.ly/4och8lx

I showed Amara an aerial view of her hair after I finished and she said “star, star.” “Mama put star on my head. Star head.” I’m learning that two-year-olds are natural writers and poets.

Beautiful poems! I love the conceit of the kidney tree and how you connect it to your father. So brilliantly done

It’s July 11 — my birthday. Happy to announce that my poems are published in Lolwe Issue 11 alongside Loic Ekinga (DR Congo), Frank Njugi (Kenya), Susan Goffe (Jamaica), David Emeka (Nigeria) & Amanda Nechesa (Kenya). Many thanks to editor Nadia Bongo (Gabon) for her guidance. bit.ly/KidneyTree

The second of July. Just like that, my Amara is two years old.

Brunel University of London is hosting a series of writing workshops and publishing webinars for aspiring writers. Sign up for the free online workshops here: bit.ly/4evXE6M

5 Essential Books For Better Understanding African Folklore: Helen Nde Recommends Isidore Okpewho, Ruth Finnegan, Ibrahim Al-Koni, and More lithub.com/5-essential-...

"They used the work of the imagination to challenge colonial systems of thought, imagine decolonial alternatives - what made this a period like no other in African literary history was a powerful sense of newness, the possibilities of a world yet to come." bit.ly/402VFAO

The African Poetry Book Fund (@apbf.bsky.social ) is hiring! Follow the link in their bio for the job description and application. Apply here ⇢ abpf-wp.us.reclaim.cloud/we-are-hiring/

I had the privilege of meeting renowned Kenyan writer and academic Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o six years ago in Washington DC. He spoke about the importance of African languages and cultural identity. (1/3)

Breastfeeding my 22 month old while 21 weeks pregnant has been a task and a half. My plan is to breastfeed until age 2. Although I’m far from home, I’m committed to my culture, breastfeeding for at least 2 years like my foremothers. I’m proud of myself. #MothersDay2025  #MothersDay

“Kwon kal ngeye ingwece.” You recognize value when you see it. - Lango proverb, Northern Uganda #Langoproverbs

I didn't write today but I sewed the holes in three sets of my one-year-old's onesies. The light and her toes were taking turns peeping through the holes. I count every tiny accomplishment as a win. Today, I sewed stubborn cloth and tomorrow I'll try stitching words into a story.

“Here, take. For you, Mama.” – Amara, 22 months

54 books by women from each of Africa’s 54 countries.

Amara found a yellow flower at the park and she won’t let go of it.

“I like circles.” - Amara, 21 months old

Book mail from Kampala, Uganda. Honored to have two poems “Spoon” and “Kitenge Dreams” published in issue 7 of The WegandaReview. Thank you to Associate Editor Ber Anena & Editor-in-Chief Rodney Muhumuza for this opportunity & privilege. Read it here: bit.ly/AraoAmeny

Book mail. The Watkins Book of African Folklore by Cameroonian-born writer & artist Helen Nde. She is also the curator of Mythological Africans, an online space exploring mythology, folklore, spirituality, & cultures from the African continent. What a beautiful book!

Hello, Bluesky community! We're a magazine dedicated to international literature and culture published at the University of Oklahoma. We publish fiction, essays, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and more—including many translations. We look forward to connecting with you here.

shout out to all the parent writers. to all the projects started and then withered because a kid had a cold, or fell when you were jotting an idea down, or started a bath and jumped in still dressed. for the conferences and fellowships and sub windows missed. shout out to y’all who keep coming back.

At 3pm on 9 February 2025, booksellers Mahmoud and Ahmad Muna were accosted by undercover Israeli police. They were arrested at the Educational Bookshop, handcuffed and taken to prison. Over 250 books were confiscated.

as a writer w/ no resources or connections to the larger literary & publishing world, it's comforting to have standing invitations for future work from small indie presses hustling to promote the writers they admire. i imagine this is how it went for Harlem Renaissance poets publishing each other.

Can I clarify? A baby girl is born with all the eggs in her ovaries that she will ever have. So when the baby girl develops in her mother's womb, the mother carries the baby girl including the eggs already developed in the baby's ovaries. So women carry the eggs that will become their grandchildren.

Volunteer as a writing consultant and/or a juror for the 2025 Baldwin Prize, a scholarship and essay competition for high school students honoring the legacy of writer and humanitarian James Baldwin. Writers and editors may volunteer online or in person. 🟢 Join me here ⇢ bit.ly/2025BaldwinPrize

“Language is a gift, listening is a responsibility.” - Nikki Giovanni Poet Nikki Giovanni, April 25, 1969 Photo credit : Evans, Michael Source: New York State Archives. New York State Council on the Arts

Extremely rare opportunity that hasn't come up in YEARS: we're open for applications to join the Split/Lip Press editorial team as our new Short Story/Flash Fiction Book Editor! Details can be found at the link in our bio/linktree (splitlippress.submittable.com/submit/31437...) and threaded: [1/3]

I held off on this book for a while because I assumed, as a media/comm scholar, I knew it all already. But a few chapters in and @annaleen.bsky.social once again surprises me with details I didn't know (but should have) and a take that stresses me out while giving me hope.

Reminder: you don’t have to be good at something to enjoy it, you don’t have to get better at it, you don’t have to monetize it, and it doesn’t have to be useful.

Love this essay from @elisabethnicula.bsky.social … could really blockquote any paragraph, but this one fit in one phone screen www.smallpresstraffic.org/the-back-roo...

USA and UK have the same underlying issue. Mainstream media owned and controlled by billionaires. Thank you for attending my Ted talk.

1st pass at a Small Press Directory. US presses. 50ish titles/yr. Across genres. With email or phone # on their website. Who am I missing? LMK & spread the word. Presses: please fill out the small press form here www.miriamgershow.com/100smallpress #100smallpress

I’m honored to have ‘Writing my Way Back’ published in the 2024 ‘Coming Home’ Hugo House chapbook. Congratulations to all writers who contributed to this project. Read the chapbook online here: hugohouse.org/coming-home-...

Book mail. Happy to receive my copy of Yellow Arrow Journal on the theme Kitalo with guest editor Tramaine Suubi, a Ugandan multilingual writer and poet. Buy your copy here ⇢ bit.ly/kitalo2024

So, I got starter-pack FOMO and decided to make one for writing people who know stuff and pass it on through courses, workshops, newsletters etc. It includes all the savants who teach me stuff. I've probably missed people but these were the ones who sprung to my head. go.bsky.app/K7ftxtv