“When people ask how I came up with the idea for AFREADA, my mind always goes back to a specific train journey. I’d just finished university and started an internship that required two things I didn’t love: waking up early, and commuting for over an hour. The journey itself wasn’t too bad - mostly because I was always reading. Back then I was obsessed with thick African novels, but for some reason, that morning I reached for Africa39 - a new collection of short stories.

I began my commute by turning to the opening page, and by the time I finished the first story, I was completely enamoured - not necessarily by the story (no shade, I’m sure it was great) - but I was in awe of the unique beauty and power of the short story form. You know that sense of accomplishment you get when you finish a book? Imagine feeling that in 15 minutes. You get on the Victoria Line at Highbury & Islington, and before you change to the Bakerloo Line at Oxford Circus, you’ve already been to Nairobi and back.

It felt like magic, and I remember looking down at the page and thinking: how incredible would it be to have a website filled with curated short stories from across the continent? When you’re sitting alone, waiting for a friend at a restaurant, you could just pick up your phone and take a quick trip to Joburg - how incredible would that be?

The idea stuck, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

— Nancy Adimora, Founding Editor