Windows | Steven Ihde
(cover photograph direction: Ene Ochayi) when the windows open, as lashes part round and round turns the washing machine, dusty dreams rinsed away from memory. flickering on lens as dust…
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theshallowtalesreview
415 posts
Moirai | Sarah Adeyemo
(cover photograph direction: Ene Ochayi) Tonight, I moisturise my ankles with tenderness & crawl into my past through the mouth of memories. An ocean of tears is not hyperbole…
Three Poems | Rowan Tate
(cover photograph direction: Ene Ochayi) do not follow the sun when it sets you don’t know what will enter you, the sky will change while you’re gone. day’s mouth…
New Wine in Old Skin | Titilayo Matiku
(cover photograph direction: Ene Ochayi) The traders are shedding their colours, on the ground, in heaps. You will find saturated men here – loaded with debts and sacks. Katangua market…
Reverse Nostalgia & When a Storm Holds Your Hands | Emmanuel Akintoye
(cover photograph direction: Dagim Abebe) Reverse Nostalgia Just ____ you ____ your ____ breath, You feel like you have been there, in the ____ life, before take …
bits of flesh scattered | Ivan de Monbrison
(cover photograph direction: Dagim Abebe) bits of flesh scattered all over a window I remember it vividly it was after my second birth let’s not forget all the others…
The Boy I Used to Love | Chika Unigwe
(cover photograph direction: Dagim Abebe) Egbunike is your husband. Remind yourself of this, whatever else he no longer is. Lover. Soulmate. Honey. You blame it on this small flat with…
On the Road Towards African Feminist Literary Identity: A Conversation with Chika Unigwe
(Photo credit: Misan Harriman) Chika Unigwe was born and raised in Enugu. Her most recent novel is The Middle Daughter. Her new novel, Grace, will be out in 2025. She is a…
Of Beginnings and Continuity | Editorial
Fresh Pepper soup is a staple meal in Nigeria. Like the name goes, it is soup suffused with pepper—lots of it. The entire story around pepper soup is not about…
Reading Shallow Tales IV
Keynote speaker Amatoritsero Ede Readers David Hundeyin (Nigeria) Chinaza Eziaghighala (Nigeria) Leye Adenle (Nigeria) Alistair Mackay (South Africa) Chinonso Nzeh (Nigeria) Nkateko Masinga (South Africa) Obari Gomba (Nigeria) Loic Ekinga…