"I think of the story for a while, and I sit down and write it all at once"

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Howard Meh-Buh Maximus in this conversation with Confidence Uwazuruike talks about getting shortlisted for the 2022 Afritondo Short Story Prize, his writing career, and his short story, Grotto. Grotto will be published in an anthology expected by Summer 2022.

Howard is a Cameroonian writer and scientist. His work has appeared in anthologies as well as literary magazines. He is a winner of the Miles Morland Scholarship 2020, Kalahari Short Story Prize (2), and a semi-finalist for the Alpines Fellowship 2019. He is an awardee of the W. Morgan and Lou Claire Rose Fellowship, currently studying for an MFA in Fiction.

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Wálé
Wálé

The last time he reached out was on his 50th birthday, six years ago. Your mother was still alive. He had sent a picture of his family a couple of years before that. It showed him and his wife, a Turkish woman, with one girl and a younger boy, lighter than anyone in your family has ever been.

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For Dadiyata
For Dadiyata

taken in the hour / when even shadows crouch

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the march
the march

we had had that song before/ in kigali/ in boipatong/ in zimbabwe

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The Bghlt el-Kaboor
The Bghlt el-Kaboor

[Hear the story in the author’s voice—audio reading included]

The girls watched as their grandmother fanned out the cash and examined the bills, searching for counterfeits, counting and recounting. Her bangles chattered like teeth on her arms.

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There is No Space Left in Lagos City
There is No Space Left in Lagos City

Lagos is an immensely populated city. The population figure is so high that there is a running dispute between the National Population Commission and the Lagos government over how many people actually live here.

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This Is How This Story Ends
This Is How This Story Ends

It ends with a jaded god. Ogbunabali. The god who kills at night. They say he grants a request in exchange for five souls. It is called the ritual of exchange. It is well known. But, like every tale, there are four parts to it. The part you tell. The part I tell. The part we agree not to tell. The part Wiwe tells.

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The Almost Love Story of Kwasi and Thomas
The Almost Love Story of Kwasi and Thomas

The waiter at the counter watches them. Short-lived glances driven by questions. Questions about these two men, none older than twenty-eight, who walk into a near-empty restaurant on a quiet evening.

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