In 1977 a 7-year-old girl was visiting her grandmother’s home in Anacostia. Walter E. Washington was in office as D.C.’s first elected mayor since 1871. Metro tunnels were still being laid; many ...

Every once in a while, a novel is so compelling that it changes your sense of a place. (Consider Lyra Belacqua’s Oxford in Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials.”) Morowa Yejidé’s “Creatures of Passage ...

There’s a universe behind our eyes, says prize-winning short story writer Morowa Yejidé. Her debut novel, Time of the Locust, observes the life and family of Sephiri, a young autistic boy whose mother ...

Fertility struggles can provoke significant anxiety — so much so that it can be hard for would-be parents to fathom how much fear and grief might be generated if their desires are fulfilled. Ayobami ...

Even though Creatures of Passage is set in D.C., you might not recognize it. In this novel, ghosts haunt the District — especially east of the river, where residents experience gentrification, poverty ...

Intent resonates from the opening sentence: “I must leave this city today and come to you.” Young Nigerian writer Ayobami Adebayo strikes a tone of persuasive urgency which is oddly classical, even ...

Simply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox. Nigeria, 1985. Yejide and Akin have been married for four years, inseparable since their eyes locked in a local ...