CategoryNON FICTION

UNRAVELLING THE LAYERS OF SELF HATRED BY OLUWASIKEMI Self-hatred It feels like a familiar ride. I’ve been on this ride a couple of times, and I know the sharp bends and turns like the back of my hand; it no longer phases me. Unlike the “stages of grief,” this ride doesn’t come with stages; it’s a loop of relentless spinning and jumping out is a gamble. Will you land safely, or will the impact...

CHRONICLES OF A SMART KID BY RAHEEMAT JIMOH        Sitting on my bed thinking about what had happened to me in the past few months, I couldn’t point out the problem; I couldn’t tell my parents, nor could I say to my friends the truth. I had to lie to them because how would I explain that my CGPA dropped from 5.0 to 2.1? I wasn’t surprised because I knew my...

I didn’t recognize who you were in those last few days, you existed in a world with defences I could not breach. This thing between us had been crashing for a while hadn’t it? We didn’t fight it, we knew. We let it play out as it desired. Should we have fought? I think our very survival of it should be something to celebrate, a testament of our strength.  They say we should write about...

The next endangered beings on Earth are women. ~ Benita Chapter 1: Womanhood I keep grappling with the concept of ‘Womanhood,’ and with each attempt, I find myself faced with the daunting realization of its complexity. It’s like trying to catch a slippery fish—I think I have it, and then it slips away again. Perhaps that’s because womanhood is a multi-faceted entity...

If I were a telescope in space, dedicated to capturing the unexplored dimensions of the universe, therefore adding a bulk of knowledge to what is already known, I imagine I would be happy. Because I wouldn’t know you.    I can’t remember the exact moment that led me to astronomy. I am certain I already loved it when I read A Brief History Of Everything by Bill Bryson because...

“You’ve been avoiding eye contact, why can’t you look into my eyes?”, says a voice deep enough to make your insides tremble. You do not respond. You try to gulp back the taste of last night’s episode down your throat, but your tongue seems to like it. You recall everything: how your bodies folded into each other like palm trees bending over as though whispering secrets. You adjust your naked body...

Sisters by chance, friends by choice. I was two years old when my sister was born, I don’t remember it. I haven’t really thought about it, until now. I imagine it being a sunny Friday, I imagine the sky being the prettiest shade of blue because her spirit is so bright and my sister is the most beautiful being to grace this heavy world. I imagine the birds singing beautiful songs as our...

Okadabooks sent a wave of shock through the Nigerian literary space on Monday the 20th of November 2023 that they would be shutting down. This impacted the community especially writers who published their first piece with them. Here at Pencilmarks, the news hit us harder because the founder got published for the first time on okadabooks and okadabooks remains a fervent isnspiration to the house...

I am Mother. Well, not exactly. I guess what I am trying to say is that we are similar in such a way that it becomes difficult to tell where one starts and the other ends. Like the way our eyes crease when we laugh, or how our noses flare up; a tell-tale of anger. Sometimes I struggle to see myself in her yet she is a perfect embodiment of everything I am, was, and will ever be.   I am not...

  Home is not where you were born,home is where all your attempts to escape cease                                             – Naguib Mahfouz IT HAS NO WALLS OR DOORS IT IS JUST… PEOPLE. We are not the places we have been but the people we have met.  I have been meaning...