Ukamaka Olisakwe
@msolisakwe.bsky.social
tv writer. novelist. editor. founder & eic of @iselemagazine.bsky.social
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
Submissions are now open for our next quarterly!
For this quarterly issue, we are seeking submissions that explore rituals – both the quiet, personal habits that shape our days and the communal, cultural ceremonies that bind generations.
Read here:
iselemagazine.com/2025/06/02/c...
For this quarterly issue, we are seeking submissions that explore rituals – both the quiet, personal habits that shape our days and the communal, cultural ceremonies that bind generations.
Read here:
iselemagazine.com/2025/06/02/c...
Call for Submissions: Rituals
“This is what rituals are for. We do spiritual ceremonies as human beings in order to create a safe resting place for our most complicated feelings of joy or trauma, so that we don’t have to haul t…
iselemagazine.com
June 5, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Submissions are now open for our next quarterly!
For this quarterly issue, we are seeking submissions that explore rituals – both the quiet, personal habits that shape our days and the communal, cultural ceremonies that bind generations.
Read here:
iselemagazine.com/2025/06/02/c...
For this quarterly issue, we are seeking submissions that explore rituals – both the quiet, personal habits that shape our days and the communal, cultural ceremonies that bind generations.
Read here:
iselemagazine.com/2025/06/02/c...
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
For our first quarterly issue of the year, we explore the fleeting beauty of life’s impermanence.
Featuring Victor Forna, Solomon Peabo, Doreen Masika, Kabubu Mutua, Lucy Zhang, Celeste Colarič-Gonzales, and more.
Read our Ephemeral Moments issue:
iselemagazine.com/ephemeral-mo...
Featuring Victor Forna, Solomon Peabo, Doreen Masika, Kabubu Mutua, Lucy Zhang, Celeste Colarič-Gonzales, and more.
Read our Ephemeral Moments issue:
iselemagazine.com/ephemeral-mo...
April 30, 2025 at 3:54 PM
For our first quarterly issue of the year, we explore the fleeting beauty of life’s impermanence.
Featuring Victor Forna, Solomon Peabo, Doreen Masika, Kabubu Mutua, Lucy Zhang, Celeste Colarič-Gonzales, and more.
Read our Ephemeral Moments issue:
iselemagazine.com/ephemeral-mo...
Featuring Victor Forna, Solomon Peabo, Doreen Masika, Kabubu Mutua, Lucy Zhang, Celeste Colarič-Gonzales, and more.
Read our Ephemeral Moments issue:
iselemagazine.com/ephemeral-mo...
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
Mariam Oyewunmi Tijani's "My Grandma’s Memory Box" has won the 2024 Abebi Award in Afro-Nonfiction Prize! #TheAbebiInstitute
Read her winning essay here:
iselemagazine.com/2025/01/17/m...
Read her winning essay here:
iselemagazine.com/2025/01/17/m...
My Grandma’s Memory Box | Mariam Oyewunmi Tijani
Editor’s Note: In partnership with The 2024 Abebi Award in Afro-Nonfiction, Isele Magazine publishes the winner, the runner-up, and the notable essays selected by the curators of the award. Ma…
iselemagazine.com
January 18, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Mariam Oyewunmi Tijani's "My Grandma’s Memory Box" has won the 2024 Abebi Award in Afro-Nonfiction Prize! #TheAbebiInstitute
Read her winning essay here:
iselemagazine.com/2025/01/17/m...
Read her winning essay here:
iselemagazine.com/2025/01/17/m...
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
“Traditions demand our attention. They need time to become and remain a thing. The last time I saw Sister Bisi, she expressed how proud she was of my writing and journey. She died…and the carol died with her. A thing falls apart to reveal whose labour pillared it.”
iselemagazine.com/2024/12/06/s...
iselemagazine.com/2024/12/06/s...
Some Seasons I Have Known | Kemi Falodun
OWO The days got colder and drier, lips chapped and dust settled on everything. We cleaned the tables and railings, discarded old, musty clothes. We scrubbed the floor, rearranged the sofas, and ga…
iselemagazine.com
January 12, 2025 at 6:01 PM
“Traditions demand our attention. They need time to become and remain a thing. The last time I saw Sister Bisi, she expressed how proud she was of my writing and journey. She died…and the carol died with her. A thing falls apart to reveal whose labour pillared it.”
iselemagazine.com/2024/12/06/s...
iselemagazine.com/2024/12/06/s...
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
Featuring new titles by Abdulrazak Gurnah, Chika Unigwe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo and many others, here are our 25 Most Anticipated Books of 2025.
iselemagazine.com/2025/01/03/e...
iselemagazine.com/2025/01/03/e...
Editor’s Choice: 25 Most Anticipated Books of 2025
Last year, we published a list of books we were excited to read and eventually enjoyed. The list featured Chigozie Obioma; Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond; ‘Pemi Aguda, whose debut collection, Ghostroots, w…
iselemagazine.com
January 3, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Featuring new titles by Abdulrazak Gurnah, Chika Unigwe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo and many others, here are our 25 Most Anticipated Books of 2025.
iselemagazine.com/2025/01/03/e...
iselemagazine.com/2025/01/03/e...
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
Thank you @iselemagazine.bsky.social for publishing my non-fiction essay "Autumn Smoke" in the themed edition "The Air We Breathe". What a happy way to end the year. iselemagazine.com/2024/12/30/a... #writingcommunity #amwriting
Autumn Smoke | Janis La Couvée
Smoke permeates my bedroom walls, seeps in through cracks around the windows—I know it’s there the minute I wake up. My family is noted for our good noses, sniffing the air at the faintest whiff of…
iselemagazine.com
December 30, 2024 at 9:13 PM
Thank you @iselemagazine.bsky.social for publishing my non-fiction essay "Autumn Smoke" in the themed edition "The Air We Breathe". What a happy way to end the year. iselemagazine.com/2024/12/30/a... #writingcommunity #amwriting
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
honoured to be featured in this quarterly edition of @iselemagazine.bsky.social themed on "The Air We Breathe"
For our last quarterly issue of 2024, we present works that revolve around air pollution and the resilience of life forms living in polluted environments.
Featuring Nathaniel Krenkel, Great Opera, Sumedha Shukla, Moseka Ole Ntiyia, Alobu Emmanuel and more.
Read:
iselemagazine.com/the-air-we-b...
Featuring Nathaniel Krenkel, Great Opera, Sumedha Shukla, Moseka Ole Ntiyia, Alobu Emmanuel and more.
Read:
iselemagazine.com/the-air-we-b...
December 30, 2024 at 9:27 PM
honoured to be featured in this quarterly edition of @iselemagazine.bsky.social themed on "The Air We Breathe"
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
thankful to @iselemagazine.bsky.social for including Sports Ball in their new issue…
#shortfiction
iselemagazine.com/the-air-we-b...
#shortfiction
iselemagazine.com/the-air-we-b...
The Air We Breathe
TABLE OF CONTENTS Fiction Sports Ball | Nathaniel Krenkel Storm at the Crossing | Great Opara Clucking | Victor Ola-Matthew They Flap Arown | Amanda Yskamp Burning Questions | Susan L. Lin Nonficti…
iselemagazine.com
December 30, 2024 at 11:22 PM
thankful to @iselemagazine.bsky.social for including Sports Ball in their new issue…
#shortfiction
iselemagazine.com/the-air-we-b...
#shortfiction
iselemagazine.com/the-air-we-b...
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
For our last quarterly issue of 2024, we present works that revolve around air pollution and the resilience of life forms living in polluted environments.
Featuring Nathaniel Krenkel, Great Opera, Sumedha Shukla, Moseka Ole Ntiyia, Alobu Emmanuel and more.
Read:
iselemagazine.com/the-air-we-b...
Featuring Nathaniel Krenkel, Great Opera, Sumedha Shukla, Moseka Ole Ntiyia, Alobu Emmanuel and more.
Read:
iselemagazine.com/the-air-we-b...
December 30, 2024 at 5:00 PM
For our last quarterly issue of 2024, we present works that revolve around air pollution and the resilience of life forms living in polluted environments.
Featuring Nathaniel Krenkel, Great Opera, Sumedha Shukla, Moseka Ole Ntiyia, Alobu Emmanuel and more.
Read:
iselemagazine.com/the-air-we-b...
Featuring Nathaniel Krenkel, Great Opera, Sumedha Shukla, Moseka Ole Ntiyia, Alobu Emmanuel and more.
Read:
iselemagazine.com/the-air-we-b...
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
From Tolu Daniel’s “Notes of a Nonresident Alien” to Kemi Falodun’s stirring piece, “Some Seasons I Have known,” check out our top ten most popular essays of this year.
iselemagazine.com/2024/12/23/t...
iselemagazine.com/2024/12/23/t...
Top Ten of 2024 | Nonfiction
From Tolu Daniel’s “Notes of a Nonresident Alien” to Kemi Falodun’s stirring piece, “Some Seasons I Have known,” check out our top ten most popular essays of this year. Heartwood …
iselemagazine.com
December 28, 2024 at 5:49 PM
From Tolu Daniel’s “Notes of a Nonresident Alien” to Kemi Falodun’s stirring piece, “Some Seasons I Have known,” check out our top ten most popular essays of this year.
iselemagazine.com/2024/12/23/t...
iselemagazine.com/2024/12/23/t...
I really am happy with this new project. It’s taken me to unexpected places.
December 27, 2024 at 2:16 AM
I really am happy with this new project. It’s taken me to unexpected places.
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
This issue is really special. I’m so moved by the quality of work we continue to publish at Isele, despite the challenges and all.
Isele will be here for a long time and this special issue proves it.
Please read and share.✨
Isele will be here for a long time and this special issue proves it.
Please read and share.✨
Today we publish our final regular issue of the year. A special one!
Featuring the Booker Prize-longlisted author Karen Jennings, Adedayo Agarau, Timothy Ogene, Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo, Kemi Falodun, Lucia Edafioka, and more.
Read here:
iselemagazine.com/december-2024/
Featuring the Booker Prize-longlisted author Karen Jennings, Adedayo Agarau, Timothy Ogene, Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo, Kemi Falodun, Lucia Edafioka, and more.
Read here:
iselemagazine.com/december-2024/
December 6, 2024 at 3:48 PM
This issue is really special. I’m so moved by the quality of work we continue to publish at Isele, despite the challenges and all.
Isele will be here for a long time and this special issue proves it.
Please read and share.✨
Isele will be here for a long time and this special issue proves it.
Please read and share.✨
New paperback in the mail.🥺
My Nigerian publishers are so thoughtful; they sold out the previous prints and returned with a new cover.
I’m so lucky to have them.
My Nigerian publishers are so thoughtful; they sold out the previous prints and returned with a new cover.
I’m so lucky to have them.
December 4, 2024 at 3:04 PM
New paperback in the mail.🥺
My Nigerian publishers are so thoughtful; they sold out the previous prints and returned with a new cover.
I’m so lucky to have them.
My Nigerian publishers are so thoughtful; they sold out the previous prints and returned with a new cover.
I’m so lucky to have them.
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
I didn’t leave X because people there had different opinions and ideologies, I left because it stopped being fun. I get on social media to chat with people who think thinking is fun. X stopped being a place where that was true.
December 1, 2024 at 3:45 PM
I didn’t leave X because people there had different opinions and ideologies, I left because it stopped being fun. I get on social media to chat with people who think thinking is fun. X stopped being a place where that was true.
It’s finally Christmas on my street !✨🥺 They just lit the lights🎉
December 1, 2024 at 2:50 AM
It’s finally Christmas on my street !✨🥺 They just lit the lights🎉
For the first time I wasn’t subjected to interrogation about Nigeria. Just long hours spent with an amazing family, eating and drinking and playing games. The world faded into the background and I didn’t want it to end.
November 30, 2024 at 10:10 PM
For the first time I wasn’t subjected to interrogation about Nigeria. Just long hours spent with an amazing family, eating and drinking and playing games. The world faded into the background and I didn’t want it to end.
This year’s Thanksgiving was, unarguably, my best since moving to the US.
November 30, 2024 at 10:07 PM
This year’s Thanksgiving was, unarguably, my best since moving to the US.
Read Flora Nwapa’s Efuru again (for the fifth time) and my life is truly and utterly changed.
November 23, 2024 at 3:25 PM
Read Flora Nwapa’s Efuru again (for the fifth time) and my life is truly and utterly changed.
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
Read Kamran Javadizadeh’s essay two weeks ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it ever since.
yalereview.org/article/kamr...
yalereview.org/article/kamr...
Kamran Javadizadeh: "Ahead of Time"
"Before a person dies, you talk to them. They die, and you still want to talk to them."
yalereview.org
November 17, 2024 at 1:37 PM
Read Kamran Javadizadeh’s essay two weeks ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it ever since.
yalereview.org/article/kamr...
yalereview.org/article/kamr...
Anyway, I am so excited about our next issue coming up at Isele Magazine. The stories, the essays, the poems? They are some of the best we’ve gotten this year!
November 17, 2024 at 4:34 AM
Anyway, I am so excited about our next issue coming up at Isele Magazine. The stories, the essays, the poems? They are some of the best we’ve gotten this year!
Reposted by Ukamaka Olisakwe
Opinions is now out in paperback! bookshop.org/p/books/opin...
November 15, 2024 at 7:32 PM
Opinions is now out in paperback! bookshop.org/p/books/opin...
Okay, I think this place really is home. That former place is no longer recognizable.
November 17, 2024 at 4:29 AM
Okay, I think this place really is home. That former place is no longer recognizable.