Gender identity in Kasham Shawanma Keltuma’s ‘Caucasian Ovtcharka’ and Zuwaira Halilu’s ‘The Tale of a Village Girl’
Gender identity in literature does not always announce itself loudly. In some works, by female writers, it creeps into narrative spaces, revealing itself through silence, endurance, emotional labour and the everyday negotiations women make within culture and tradition. Rather than foregrounding gender as a declared theme, these writers often allow it to emerge gradually, embedded […]
Audiobooks or not, writers are (not) good people
Writers are the most enlightened minds you will ever encounter. They are also the most dangerous. I told this to a friend once, and I meant it. We wield articulation like a weapon, dress up our egos in beautiful sentences, and call it wisdom. Pride runs through our veins thicker than ink. And pride, as […]
Islamic Fiction in Nigeria: Between Soyayya, Tarbiyya, and new literary shelf
In the bustling Kurmi Market of Kano, beneath colourful umbrellas shielding books from the Harmattan sun, Hauwa fingers through a stack of paperbacks. The covers promise romance and drama: Budurwar Zuciya, Alhaki Kuykuyo Ne, Wa Zai Auri Jahila? These are soyayya novels — love stories that navigate the delicate balance between entertainment and Islamic values. […]