Story Time with Bemsi

Today's episode is the season finale, and we will be doing something different. Instead of reading a short stories, we will have a more general conversation about reading, and the insights we can gain from various short stories. To do this, I am joined by a guest, by he name of Mikah Edwin. He is a mechanical engineer by profession, but also does a lot of fascinating work connecting African youth to educational opportunities around the world. Today we will talk about his reading habits, favourite writers, and one of his favourite stories on this season of the podcast.

In this story, we follow a man named ‘Mika' on an eventful night out.

Today's story is ‘False prophet', and it was written by Sembene Ousmane. It was originally written in French, but translated to English by Len Ortzen. In today's short story, we follow a character by name ‘Mahmoud Fall', as he travels around the North of Senegal

In this story, we follow an unnamed South African woman as she navigates navigate life under Apartheid

In today's story, we follow a character called Ernesto Timba, as he deals with the emotions surrounding a strange occurrence in his life.

In this story, we follow a middle-aged man as he navigates the loss of his long-time girlfriend

Today's story is "the gentleman of the jungle" by Jomo Kenyatta. It is set in an interesting jungle, where animals and human beings can talk to each other. The first time I read this story, I thought it was an interesting fable with some life lessons. However, after doing a little research online, I realised it is actually a much deeper story - very insightful political commentary in fact. 

Today's story is ‘Civil Peace' by Chinua Achebe. It is narrated in the third person by an unknown narrator, set in Nigeria, in the aftermath of the Nigerian civil war,  and it follows an interesting character called Jonathan. In this story we see him navigate post war Nigeria, and through his eyes we get a glimpse of what daily life in that period were as well. 

Today's story is ‘Protista' by Dambudzo Marechera. It is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator, and set in an unnamed location, which seems difficult to survive. It seems he is there as a result of political exile.

Today's story is ‘The Betrayal' by Ahmed Essop. The story is set in South Africa and narrated by an unknown narrator. It follows a political leader as he navigates the events surrounding the creation of a new political group which may rival his own party.

Today's story is ‘The Apprentice' by Odun Balogun. The narration is done in the third person by an unknown narrator, and it follows a main character, Ogunmola, on his journey to becoming a master blacksmith. We do not have a precise setting for the story, but one would surmise it is set somewhere in Nigeria.

Today's story is “A handful of dates” by Tayeb Salih. It is narrated in the first person by an unnamed man. The narrator is looking back at his childhood, and exploring his relationship with the people he grew up with - in particular, his grandfather.