Isele Magazine

The Best of New Literature and Art

New Writing on Isele Magazine

A Lineage of Mantles | Chisom Benedicta Nsiegbunam

Editor’s Note: In partnership with The 2025 Abebi Award in Afro-Nonfiction, Isele Magazine publishes the winner, the runner-up, and the notable essays selected by the curators of the award. Chisom Benedicta  Nsiegbunam’s “A Lineage of Mantles” is a notable entry. Award Founder’s Note: What happens when you inherit a faith that feels too big for your…

There is a Bullet With Your Name on It | Erere Onyeugbo

Editor’s Note: In partnership with The 2025 Abebi Award in Afro-Nonfiction, Isele Magazine publishes the winner, the runner-up, and the notable essays selected by the curators of the award. Erere Onyeugbo’s “IThere is a Bullet With Your Name on It” is a notable entry. Award Founder’s Note: With razor-sharp wit and a keen observational eye, “There…

Hold Me in Love, Hide Me in God | Chinwendu Queenette Nwangwa

Editor’s Note: In partnership with The 2025 Abebi Award in Afro-Nonfiction, Isele Magazine publishes the winner, the runner-up, and the notable essays selected by the curators of the award. Chinwendu Queenette Nwangwa’s “Hold Me in Love, Hide Me in God” is a notable entry. Award Founder’s Note: The brutal and the divine collide in this raw,…

Disappearing in Tokyo | Sheila Ngei

When an English speaking South African accented man claims he grew up in the United Emirates, works in tech, has lived in Korea, hasn’t dated since his last Filipino girlfriend, has an online teaching job he can help you earn from, offers to buy you sake four times in an hour, and hints at your…

The Things That Stay | Taslym Umar

The room is a slow oven. Heat sits in the corners, in the thin cotton of my wrapper, in the little bone hollows behind my knees. I sit on the edge of the bed, and the wrapper clings to my thighs. The ceiling fan fights the heat, turning with a tired groan. Each blade bows…

The Hope of Floating Has Carried Us Thus Far | Nnamdi Ehirim

I never liked boats. Or water. Not in real life, anyway. In movies, of course. Water was where cool things got revealed. Pirates, baptisms, sharks, river gods. But in real life, water was a thief that swallowed sons and left fathers with grief. But I couldn’t tell Junior all this when he asked to go…

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