Ekari Writes

It's nomination season once again! The African Speculative Fiction Society  (ASFS) has been operating since 2017, when it created the esteemed Nommo Awards, recognizing contributions by African writers in the genres of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and magical realism. The categories are: Novel Novella Short Story Graphic Novel First, works are nominated for the long list, then there are 2 rounds of voting for the short list and winners respectively.  Well, my short story (flash fiction really) made it to the long list for 2020! It is titled The Blue Ball , and I wrote it in response to a word prompt challenge. I had never written flash fiction before, which is a story that is approximately the length of a page at most. The story could have gone in any direction, any genre or topic, but the title had to be "The Blue Ball". I took a science fiction approach to it, since it's one of my favourite genres. Give it a read, and check out the other stories ...

Happy Easter from The Inside! A lot of firsts in the world including the first Easter in most of our lifetimes where the whole world will be spending it indoors. Rather than get massive FOMO about not being able to go anywhere, I would like to spend the time practicing my descriptions as I have done in previous posts .  This time I will be describing the view from Zomba mountain, the key tourist feature of the former capital of Malawi. Zomba has protected forestry, which gives it a feel that's closer to nature than the other towns in Malawi. The trees are allowed to grow to massive breadth and height, giving a feel that humans are very much visitors in a natural world.  When you get to the top of the mountain, there is quite a sight to behold. A View from the Top of the World The first thing you notice is how the landscape suddenly unfurls like the most high-definition live Google map image you have ever seen. Emperor's View is the very seat of the world - ...

Everything is changing. That is clear to everyone on the planet at the moment, and no one but God knows what the world will look like, what the new normal will be. But we have definitely been tested as a generation. Many of the changes are happening at an individual level. As gradually all nations are requiring their citizens to remain indoors for the safety of the entire society, there are unforeseen side effects. People are struggling to maintain their sanity. Most people do not normally spend so much time in isolation,   and there is a reason why it is used as a disciplinary measure in prisons. But one would think that being in your own home should not feel like prison isolation, with all your comforts. It is fascinating to see celebrities and social media personalities struggle to cope without a daily dosage of attention and validation, because everyone else has been focused on Covid-19 news.   When makeup artists and stylists have to stay home, you see image...