Open Country Mag

Open Country Mag has quickly emerged as a vital platform for Africa's literary voices, featuring prominent figures like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Teju Cole, Damon Galgut, Tsitsi Dangarembga, and Maaza Mengiste, alongside the next wave of talent. In just over a year, it has become a hub for groundbreaking ideas and narratives, and with our recent venture into the Nigerian film and television industry, our mission has expanded. We aim to place Africa firmly in the global spotlight by sharing significant stories that influence both literary and cinematic cultures on the continent while bridging two powerful industries for the first time. Our commitment to integrity and community support drives us to create a multifaceted platform for cultural storytelling that rivals those typically offered by Western media. Founded by Otosirieze in response to backlash against young African writers addressing issues like rape culture, Open Country Mag reflects the voices of a new generation, particularly in Nigeria. These writers are challenging censorship and harnessing social media to advocate for the change they wish to see. This generation embodies the spirit of openness and freedom in their country. The website officially launched on December 26, 2020.

African-American/Black

English

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Articles

Open Country Mag

1 month ago | opencountrymag.com | Otosirieze Obi-Young

A note on timing: This list comes now, four months later than it ideally should, because, caught up in other things, I considered not compiling it. But I did, because it’s a list for the archives, the value of which only increases as the years go by.
Open Country Mag

1 month ago | opencountrymag.com | Paula Willie-Okafor |Orji Victor Ebubechukwu |Iheoma Uzomba |Otosirieze Obi-Young

There are days when I think that Nollywood film critics are too harsh and more days when I think they are not harsh enough: it reflects an inconsistent industry from which the two biggest streamers, first Prime Video and then Netflix, have pulled out — a business many of whose stakeholders seem to not understand that there is no extent of “branding” or trumpeting of “numbers,” no annual feature in Variety or The Hollywood Reporter stalely announcing “the rise” and “arrival” of “African...
Open Country Mag

2 months ago | opencountrymag.com | Otosirieze Obi-Young

When the cardinals begin voting in Conclave, Edward Berger’s aesthetically seductive depiction of a papal election, the result is astounding — a signal that, among recent ecclesiastical dramas that aspire to let us into the workings of one of the world’s most guarded groups, a list that includes Christoph Schrewe’s historical thriller The Conclave (2006), Nanni Morretti’s reverent Habemus Papam (2011), Paolo Sarrentino’s satirical series The Young Pope (2016), and Fernando Meirelles’s buddy...
Haske Matan Arewa Tells Stories of Arewa Women : Folio Nigeria

Feb 6, 2025 | opencountrymag.com | Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu

As the new home of Folio Nigeria, a subsidiary of Folio Media, Open Country Mag is republishing culture stories that first appeared on the site under its CNN affiliation. This story was first published in 2020. When Grace Yakubu first peered into the view finder of her new camera in 2012 and captured a moment, she took her first step into an unlikely photography and filmmaking career.
Open Country Mag

Jan 28, 2025 | opencountrymag.com | Orji Victor Ebubechukwu |Otosirieze Obi-Young

When I wrote my first book, Osun’s Daughters, a mentor of mine called attention to how many citations I had in both Spanish and Portuguese: “If I were you, if I had that dominance over different languages, I would put the quotes within and translate them myself rather than counting on whether they were published or not.” - Valdes...
Our Top Stories of 2024

Jan 14, 2025 | opencountrymag.com | Paula Willie-Okafor |Iheoma Uzomba |Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera |Michael Aromolaran |Otosirieze Obi-Young

Our top stories of 2024 are not so much our most-read pieces as they are the pieces that reflect the range of subjects we covered in the year, and that we therefore recommend, in case you missed reading them. They show our deep work in finding untold stories, contextualizing developments in African literature and Nollywood, and highlighting the shapers of culture and industries.
The Prodigious Arrival of Arinze Ifeakandu

Dec 6, 2024 | opencountrymag.com | Paula Willie-Okafor

Nsukka. 2013. The university town hummed with quiet energy, cradling thousands of outsize dreams. Nineteen-year-old Arinze Ifeakandu pulsed with a story that came complete: characters, plot, language. All that he’d written led up to this one. He started writing in a frenzy, on a laptop with a faulty battery. His friends called the laptop Television, for the way it turned on only while plugged to power and off when the unpredictable electricity winked out.
A Navy Pilot Pivoted to Writing, Spurred by Surrealists

Nov 25, 2024 | opencountrymag.com | Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera |Joseph Heller

When Umar Abubakar Sidi appeared at the Umuofia Arts and Books Festival in August, an audience member asked him about his writing style. For years, the Navy pilot-cum-poet had worked in a surrealistic mode, producing books that disobey order and tinker with conventions of form and structure. The first, The Poet of Dust, released in 2019, is influenced by Sufism. The poems often included chants and lamentations about dust and the particulate nature of the universe.
4 Nollywood Films Arriving at the End of 2024

Nov 17, 2024 | opencountrymag.com | Paula Willie-Okafor

Nigerian cinema has witnessed quite the year. From sprawling epics, to comedy dramas and biopics, the industry continues to charm audiences with compelling stories. As 2024 comes to an end, moviegoers still have much to look forward to. On the big screen, Funke Akindele returns in Everybody Loves Jenifa, the latest film in her Jenifa franchise.
“African writers are just not credited enough as innovators”: Otosirieze Speaks to The Republic

Oct 14, 2024 | opencountrymag.com | Ada Nnadi

The last interview that Open Country Mag founder Otosirieze did was in 2021, with the South African news site News24. But last week, he returned to sharing his thoughts in public when he spoke to The Republic associate editor Peace Onafuye, for the journal’s “First Draft” series. The writer, journalist, editor, and curator shared his reading habits and recommended some books, but also took on recent literary issues in the African and global scenes.