With each new issue of this wonderful journal, I’ve encountered new work and creators who have contributed to widening my horizon. JAY Lit Issue 9 is no different, but one thing it has done more successfully than all the other issues I’ve personally edited is to soak itself into my subconscious, seep beyond the editorial guard I had propped up to help me focus objectively on the task. It turned me from one who is meant to produce the movie, to one who is dipping into popcorn while sobbing along with the characters in the movie. That is how powerful this new issue is.
Mariam Mohammed opens the lineup with poignant poetry that leaves the reader mulling thoughts long after reading, and subsequent poems from Bash Amuneni, Emmanuel G G Yamba, Anna Zgambo, Richeal Barnes, I Echo, and Eugen Bacon further tighten the hold on the readers mind with the exploration of loss, grief, war, and friendship, among other themes.
The fiction and non-fiction section delves deeper with themes including forced marriages, abandonment, religion, depression, and much more, thanks to Karen Njelita, Fatima Okhuosami, Harrison Ncube, Olayinka Yaqub, Mark Kennedy Nsereko, Mulenga Mupinde, Oluwabunmi Adaramola, Bwalya S. Kondwani, Jesimiel Williams, Mifa Adejumo, Fatima Mohammed, Rukayat Ogunlana, and Solomon Idah Hamza.
Elizabeth Nafula and Chimezie Umeoka contribute thematically diverse plays. And there’s so much to visually please readers from Eltina Gaspar, Jola Praise Ademola, Natasha Devalia, Ismail Yusuf Olumoh, and Ilemobayo Ojo, who also blessed us with the truly glorious art that inspired both the cover and aesthetic theme for the issue. The ensemble rounds up with critical essays from Ibraheem Uthman and Aminat Adesanya.
There are contributions from Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, Liberia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Angola. We also have the pleasure of featuring members of the 2025 Idembeka Creative Writing Fellowship––Karen Njelita, Mulenga Mupinde & Fatima Mohammed.
I’m incredibly proud of every staff at JAY Lit. On behalf of us all, I invite you to enjoy the sumptuousness we’ve cooked here.
Click here for the new issue.
Sincerely,
Ibrahim Babátúndé Ibrahim
Ibrahim Babátúndé Ibrahim
Ibrahim is a Nigerian writer and editor currently based in the UK. He has won the Creative Future Writers’ Awards, the Quramo Writers' Prize, and received support from the Jessica George Bursary. His work has been selected for Best Small Fictions anthology, and has been a finalist for Faber Children's FAB Prize, Miles Morland Writing Scholarship, a Masters Review anthology prize, and twice for Moon City Short Fiction Award. He has also been longlisted for Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Laura Kinsella Fellowship, and Dzanc Diverse Voices Prize. He has multiple nominations for both the Pushcart Prize and the Best of the Net. Among other things, he is currently the Editor of JAY Lit. He’s @heemthewriter on Twitter and Facebook, and @writtenbyheem on Instagram and Threads. More about Ibrahim can be found at www.heemthewriter.com
