Contents:

Prose –

Night of the Living Spa Weekend // M H Ayinde – 4079 words

When an array of forces conspire against three bone-weary friends set on a long overdue retreat, something has to give. Something unfathomable.

Kudzu Boy Dreaming // SJ Powell – 6506 words

Despite his Ma’s warnings, Lucas finds a secret among the evergrowing kudzu, all his own, hidden among the creeping vines.

Homo Minimalensis // Tasha Schumann – 5158 words

In the midst of a precarious open relationship, a floundering sculptor is mobbed by a bizarre apartment infestation.

Arboretum // Habiba Dokubo-Asari – 5000 words

After a global cataclysmic event rocks their family, two siblings and their mother seek dangerous closure and a new beginning.

Spell for Grief and Longing // Eboni J. Dunbar – 8650 words

A heartbroken woman is lured from her miasma by a tempting offer: perform blasphemous magic for a powerful ruler in the same plight.

Poetry –

Coding a Demi-griot (An Olivian Measure) // Armoni “Monihymn” Boone

Abecedarian For Light and Change // Omodero David Oghenekaro

Sea Beat Blues // Gabriel Awuah Mainoo

Nonfiction –

ÀBÍKÚ: THE TRUTH IN THE MYTH // SISI AFRIKA – 2200 words