Reading through the submissions for this climate and nature issue has been an incredibly moving experience. I was deeply inspired by just how much passion creators poured into this topic. Much like the majestic African elephant on our cover, a symbol of deep memory and resilience, these pieces carry an undeniable weight and beauty. It’s clear that for our contributors, climate change isn’t just an abstract headline nor a distant, bleak prediction. It is a present reality weaving itself into daily life, and their fierce devotion to the environment is cemented within the lines of every single page.
Setting the rhythm for this journey, we have a poignant collection of poetry featuring voices like Victor Obukata, Scott Frost, Chidera Echedom, and Victoria Kerubo. These verses are odes to nature that celebrate its beauty and confront hard realities—whether navigating the burning tension of a garden in darkness or the silent sorrow of a drying riverbed. They are deeply intimate poems of people capturing the changing landscapes of our environment with a breathtaking tenderness.
Moving deeper into the issue, our fiction, creative non-fiction, and play sections submerge us into the human stories behind these changing ecosystems. Through evocative prose and drama, writers like Sùnmísólá Olúdé, H.K. Yahaya Jawula, Obaditan Oluwakorede Oluwatosin, and Olaseni Kehinde Precious trace the vital, fragile life cycle of our waters, exploring what happens when the rain we pray for becomes our ruin, or when we must search for the patron saints of dying streams.
Lastly, our visual artists offer a feast for your eyes with striking illustrations from Natasha Devalia and Ogo Onyeji. Seyram Klu De-Souza delivers us to the waters of the Western Region of Ghana. We’re reminded that our waters are not just sites of ecological crisis, but sanctuaries for hope and a future worth fighting for.
As you turn these pages, I hope you find yourself as moved and inspired by these creators as I have been. Welcome to our 11th Issue. May these words and images spark a deeper connection to the place we call home.
Click here for this new issue.
Sincerely,
Bongiwe T. Maphosa
JAY Lit Peer Reviewer
Bongiwe T. Maphosa
Bongiwe Maphosa is a writer whose fiction and poetry offers fresh, imaginative perspectives on the human condition. Her work has been published in prominent literary spaces, including Isele Magazine, Akowdee Magazine, the AVBOB Poetry Anthology, Journal of African Youth in Literature (JAY Lit), and more. She was also nominated for the 2025 Best of the Net Anthology. Bongiwe is one of six writers selected for the inaugural Caine Prize Online Editing program and serves as a content writer, peer reviewer, and tier three awards judge for JAYLit. Bridging inner reflection with speculative worlds, she continues to carve out a distinctive voice within contemporary African literature for a growing global audience.
