Spring brings new beginnings and reopens the cycle of the seasons. This year has seen a very significant beginning with the inauguration of Obama, the first black president of the United States of America. This months cover artist, Sarah van Sonsbeeck, a resident at Amsterdams Rijksakademie and former student of Art and Architecture, was inspired by the words ‘obama’ and ‘hope’, using an online graph program to map the Twitter activity on the data that is entered. This month also marks a new beginning for Litro with the new editor, Dena Ziari who will be joined next month by Sophie Lewis to share the role. In this months issue we take a closer look at Africa. As we move in closer, we go full-circle on a journey that takes us from Britain to the continent and back again…
Nikesh Shukla is an author and song-writer caught between the cityscapes of Bombay and the low-swinging chariots of London. His writing has been featured on BBC2, Radio 1 and 4, Resonance fm, and has performed at the Royal Festival Hall, Apples and Snakes, Soho Theatre to name a few. In his story ‘In My Fathers Footsteps’ he takes us away from the noise of London to look for solitude in post-colonial Kenya. We go on a journey with Katy Ideh, in her poem ‘He-Man and Hopskotch’, that puts us in the shoes of a young mixed-raced girl growing up between London and Nigeria, whilst Laura Nelson, who recently read her short story at Litro Live, shows us glimpses into the perils of youth and moving on in ‘Majuto’.
Isobel Dixon brings the voice of the South African woman; and Wayne Visser creates vivid imagery of the African landscape in ‘I Know a Place in Africa’. Susmita Bhattacharya’s short story ‘The Beasts of Eden’ take us on the intimate journey of a couple who travel to Egypt and its effects on their lives back at home.
Nikesh Shukla is an author and song-writer caught between the cityscapes of Bombay and the low-swinging chariots of London. His writing has been featured on BBC2, Radio 1 and 4, Resonance fm, and has performed at the Royal Festival Hall, Apples and Snakes, Soho Theatre to name a few. In his story ‘In My Fathers Footsteps’ he takes us away from the noise of London to look for solitude in post-colonial Kenya. We go on a journey with Katy Ideh, in her poem ‘He-Man and Hopskotch’, that puts us in the shoes of a young mixed-raced girl growing up between London and Nigeria, whilst Laura Nelson, who recently read her short story at Litro Live, shows us glimpses into the perils of youth and moving on in ‘Majuto’.
Isobel Dixon brings the voice of the South African woman; and Wayne Visser creates vivid imagery of the African landscape in ‘I Know a Place in Africa’. Susmita Bhattacharya’s short story ‘The Beasts of Eden’ take us on the intimate journey of a couple who travel to Egypt and its effects on their lives back at home.
