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itan.wa Ore Onabanjo | Itàn -Stories| Exploring African stories (on the continent and in the diaspora) thro

03/17/2026

Sefi Atta has had my heart for a while!

Started off with Everything Good Will Come in 2020 and never looked back! Then when I heard the movie Swallow was coming out, I had to read the book first! And The Bead Collector just reminded me why I love her writing so much.

There’s something about the way she captures womanhood, identity, and everyday life that feels both specific and universal at the same time.
WomenWhoWrite ItanWa

03/16/2026

I know Historical and Contemporary Fiction have my heart but I love a good romance novel to balance out all I’m reading! is your girl with words who had me rooting for a second chance romance story!!

03/15/2026

This time we’re in North Africa with Nawal El Sadawi! I don’t think I have enough female North African authors on my shelf, any suggestions on who else I should be reading?

03/11/2026

Solo cafe days in Brooklyn 📍 .nyc

03/09/2026

Happy Monday! Flying over to East Africa with this next recommendation: Ugandan novelist Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi.

If you cannot already tell, I love historical fiction and stories that explore womanhood and feminism within the African context. I first fell in love with Makumbi when I read A Girl Is a Body of Water and immediately knew I had to keep exploring her work.

Her writing draws deeply from oral storytelling traditions rooted in Ganda culture, which gives her stories a richness and depth that feels both intimate and expansive. If you love layered storytelling, complex female characters, and books that explore identity, culture, and growing up, Makumbi is an author worth reading.

03/08/2026

Another author recommendation: Buchi Emecheta. Through stories shaped by child slavery, motherhood, and the pursuit of independence through education, her work explores culture and the tension between tradition and modernity. Her books remain powerful portraits of African womanhood, resilience, and self-determination.

I don’t think there’s a deadline for sharing your reading recap from the previous year.And since it’s still January and ...
01/26/2026

I don’t think there’s a deadline for sharing your reading recap from the previous year.

And since it’s still January and the statutory limit for saying “Happy New Year” hasn’t elapsed, I’m well within my rights to share my wrapped.

I’m a relatively slower reader compared to most bookstagrammers. I usually aim for about two books a month, roughly 24 a year, and I just barely made my very arbitrary goal last year. Still counting it as a win.

I switched to StoryGraph instead of Goodreads and really loved the insights and mini recaps it gives, so I thought I’d share a few of mine.

One big goal for this year is to read more nonfiction. Ideally at least one, considering I read a whopping zero nonfiction books last year, excluding Substack essays. I finally started mine, so follow along via the link in my bio.

What were your favorite reads from last year, and what are your reading goals for 2026?

01/08/2026

First read of the year by Someday Maybe broke me in the best ways so I already know I’m in for a ride with this one.

Allow Me To Introduce Myself follows Anuri, who grew up as the unwilling subject of her “mumfluencer” stepmother’s social media empire, and must now reclaim her identity and stop the cycle of abuse as her stepmother turns her attention to Anuri’s younger half-sister.

Especially important in the age of social media and the boom of content creation in the parenting space, this explores themes of toxic family dynamics, the dark side of child influencer culture, and finding one’s own voice.

Spent the day at MoMA with the fam and had been looking forward to seeing the Ideas of Africa exhibition curated by .ona...
12/29/2025

Spent the day at MoMA with the fam and had been looking forward to seeing the Ideas of Africa exhibition curated by .onabanjo . An exhibition grounded in African photography as both art and political imagination, tracing Pan-Africanism, independence movements, and everyday life through portraiture.

From mid-century West and Central African photographers to contemporary artists of the diaspora, the work presents Africa not as a static place, but as an evolving, diasporic idea. I loved how it centered fashion, self-representation, and the power of images to shape history.

A reminder of why documentation matters. And why telling our stories beyond slavery and colonization is essential.

12/23/2025

What cozy movies/ books / shows are you enjoy this season? Shoutout to and for my fixes this year! Any movies based on the continent I should add to my list?

12/22/2025

Spend the day with the sister and I! Love it when I schedules align

12/21/2025

Your Tomorrow Was Today comes out officially on January 15th! It’s an impressive debut about healing from trauma and grief, choosing oneself in a society that encourages us to put everything before us, and setting important boundaries!

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