Ra✨
banner
dera-writes.bsky.social
Ra✨
@dera-writes.bsky.social
✨Alive✨ for now...
(He/They)
Pinned
Have you read my award winning micro fiction yet?👀
No?
Well what are you waiting for? Dive Right in💃
www.smokelong.com/stories/in-w...
In War, Daughters Bury Their Fathers. - SmokeLong Quarterly
On their way to the refugee camp in Okigwe, Nnodim toys with the idea of eating her sickly father. It is only a slight joke, a passing thought, one that nonetheless fills her with shame. She wonders i...
www.smokelong.com
Reposted by Ra✨
We've come to the end of our look back at the year. Translunar Travelers Lounge published two issues with a total of twenty eight stories. If any of these have stayed with you then please consider them for awards, reading lists, or perhaps you might write a review.
December 15, 2025 at 1:22 PM
I think it's time I finally paid the much due attention to building my Bluesky account.

The migration from the chaos of Twitter to these serene streets has left me quite awed (and a little suspicious, to be honest👀).

Everyone's so nice over here. It feels strangely warm and warmly strange☺️
December 13, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Ra✨
Even if you too are always running, perhaps pause a moment to read this story, and consider it for your 2025 reading lists or nominations. translunartravelerslounge.com/2025/08/15/h...
Home is Where the Heart Rests, by Chidera Anikpe
First, there was Ànyasi; the darkness; an endless void of nothingness. And then there was Àghará; Chaos; atoms spontaneously bursting into being; an existence with no progenitor. And then there was…
translunartravelerslounge.com
December 10, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Reposted by Ra✨
24 Days in and we've still got excellent stories for you; Home Is Where The Heart Rests by @dera-writes.bsky.social A story of a child who is born, from unity, from the void, from divinity, who always chooses to leave, who is, in the end, human
December 10, 2025 at 11:35 AM
My latest flash fiction story is liveeeeee💃💃💃💃💃
Please read and leave a comment if you like it (or even if you don't🤭)
www.flashfictiononline.com/article/to-b...
To Be a Woman Is to Be Without a Name
i.For most of her fifty-three years of life on Earth, she was called Mama Jide by everyone except for her son. He–the ‘Jide’ from which her identity was coined–called her Mummy.And so, when she die…
www.flashfictiononline.com
May 21, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Please read my interview with the amazing Pegah Ouij where we talk about war, morality and a girl who wants to eat her father🤭
December 30, 2024 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by Ra✨
This week's featured writer is Chidera Solomon Anikpe
@dera-writes.bsky.social ⭐. You can read his interview with Pegah Ouji here: www.smokelong.com/interviews/s...
Smoke & Mirrors with Chidera Solomon Anikpe - SmokeLong Quarterly
The piece begins with a taboo—a daughter contemplating eating her father. She’s filled with shame, yet by the end of the piece, there’s movement. In what ways does this piece play with taboos and use ...
www.smokelong.com
December 30, 2024 at 10:09 PM
A new short story to end the year?👀

Yes please!!! 🤭💃

agbowo.org/2024/12/27/a...
A Eulogy for Happy Girls | Chidera Anikpe
“No one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone.” Paul Coelho i. In his dorm room, with your bodies entwined and the odour of sex hanging heavily in the air, Akande says that Iréoluwa&…
agbowo.org
December 27, 2024 at 8:21 AM
Reposted by Ra✨
⭐⭐⭐Please join us in congratulating the authors of the prize-winning stories of The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest 2024!

1st: jj peña, "the sky didn̶'t̶ slip inside"
2nd: Christine H. Chen, "I See You"
3rd: Chidera Solomon Anikpe, "In War, Daughters Bury Their Fathers."⭐⭐⭐
December 17, 2024 at 12:31 AM
Have you read my award winning micro fiction yet?👀
No?
Well what are you waiting for? Dive Right in💃
www.smokelong.com/stories/in-w...
In War, Daughters Bury Their Fathers. - SmokeLong Quarterly
On their way to the refugee camp in Okigwe, Nnodim toys with the idea of eating her sickly father. It is only a slight joke, a passing thought, one that nonetheless fills her with shame. She wonders i...
www.smokelong.com
December 18, 2024 at 1:07 PM
Please read this wonderful issue. The works here are simply breathtaking.
And yes, I am published in it🤭🤭🤭
SmokeLong Quarterly Issue 86 is live. Featuring the six finalists of the SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest (The Mikey) and four stories from this quarter's general submissions. It's wonderful.
www.smokelong.com/issue-eighty...
December 16, 2024 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Ra✨
SmokeLong Quarterly Issue 86 is live. Featuring the six finalists of the SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest (The Mikey) and four stories from this quarter's general submissions. It's wonderful.
www.smokelong.com/issue-eighty...
December 16, 2024 at 1:36 PM
I am ugly crying all over the house today😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

MAMA I MADE IT TO SMOKELONG!!! 💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃
It's time for our Issue 86 cover reveal! It's a beauty. We can't wait for you to read it. Featuring the winners and finalists of the SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest 2024, plus four stories chosen from the 3,000 general submissions we received this quarter. Thank you all so much. Out Monday December 16
December 13, 2024 at 9:56 AM
Everyday for the past week, I've woken up remembering that I have two pieces forthcoming in Smokelong and Agbowo and I just cry every single time.

This year has been a lot!!!

I received a ton of rejections. I lost faith in myself and my craft.

I'm glad things turned out fine in the end🤭
December 9, 2024 at 7:40 AM
Did I mention that I'm a finalist for this prize???👀🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃
⭐THE FINALISTS OF THE SMOKELONG GRAND MICRO CONTEST⭐ These six micros will appear in the December issue of SmokeLong alongside four stories chosen from 3000 submissions in the general queue. Congratulations to everyone on this list; you’ve done something remarkable. www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...
December 6, 2024 at 7:24 AM
My friend wrote this btw

Readddddddd!!!
Don't miss this story from Issue 85: "What Would The Aliens Think?" by Ekpenyong Kosisochukwu Collins. "If the aliens could interact, and were really allies, they would have given me a sign. They would have said, Run, Ifeanyi, run, when you stood to open the door" www.smokelong.com/stories/what...
November 28, 2024 at 7:23 PM
I made this prestigious list

APPLAUSEEEEE 🤭
We couldn't be more thrilled to share our long list for The SmokeLong Grand Micro Contest. Congratulations to the writers of these 42 micros--out of 1,170. You are all stars.
www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...
November 20, 2024 at 10:15 PM
Reposted by Ra✨
shout out to all the writers and artists who take forever to finish something. I get it, bro. I take a long time too. but your worth as a writer/artist isn't built upon production. so just keep striding it out. keep taking those steps. we each have our own race track. we'll get to the finish line
November 9, 2024 at 3:02 PM
OMG it's so pretty over here.
Felon Tusk's app could never
November 10, 2024 at 9:02 AM