For his first visit to Cameroon, the good doctor— Dr. Dami Ajayi— graces us with his humor-tinged raspy cadence. What other way to set a good example than to join the other writers and lend his voice to the second edition of the Bakwa Magazine Reading Series?

This goes to express his ability as both co-facilitator of the Limbe-Lagos exchange project and lover of words: written and read.

From poetry to prose, fiction to non-fiction, Dami walks us through how long it took to publish his 6 year old manuscript Clinical Blues. We get acquainted to 'Konji blues', among other pleasurable conversations.

The co-founder of Saraba Magazine carries his words across the smile-filled lounge, with the brimming confidence of someone who can afford to call his own poems 'nonsense poems', holding the attention of the IYA audience.

He punctuates this reading with short historical interludes about the pieces, as well as introductory notes. His ability to trace the origin of each story and place it in time was quite remarkable.

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'Everything that has a beginning, has an end'- Agent Smith, The Matrix Revolutions.

We may not be able to trace exactly when the idea of Bakwacast took hold, but a look into the editor of Bakwa Magazine may provide unavoidable correlations. For example, the stoic interest in African Literature, the increased interest in deciphering the literary landscape across Cameroon and the continent, and, especially, the raging desire to showcase young, brilliant voices within the continent, who tend, more likely than not, to be underrepresented.

On Episode 0, as we've chosen to call it, we discover Dzekashu Macviban. In his soft-spoken stance, he walks us through the feelings he had when he read the last lines of Pala Pala Magazine saying farewell, he traces his childhood full of books and language, and the influence of his father's taste on his own personal tastes.

One of the key events of 2017, which cemented Bakwa's partnerships as more than just digital conversations, was the Limbe-Lagos exchange project. We find out how this happened, and what he would have done differently if he had the chance to go back.

Bakwacast is a new journey— an audio experience— that has taken over a year to come from our minds to what you're about to listen to. We never expected it to be this hard. We never expected it to be this exciting either. And we're definitely not expecting an end soon.

Read “A Brief History of Bakwa Magazine”

Links mentioned in this episode:

1- https://bakwamagazine.com/2018/01/22/a-brief-history-of-bakwa-magazine/

2- https://bakwamagazine.com/2017/04/07/nigeriacameroon-literary-exchange-project-participants/

3- https://bakwamagazine.com/2018/01/22/a-brief-history-of-bakwa-magazine/

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New episodes every Wednesday.

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His only regret, is that he didn't pay attention to math. His storytelling prowess, on the other hand, is unmistakable. Florian Ngimbis is unapologetic, vociferous, and hilarious. This is by far the funniest, and most entertaining conversation we have in this season.

This episode is in French. You see, Cameroon is a bilingual country, so are we at Bakwa. The joie de vivre was palpable in the laugh filled bout.

Florian is one of the pioneers when it comes to the Cameroonian blogosphere. He paints a picture of the 'accident' that got him writing online, how travelling to France affected his views on book publishing, the changing landscape of Cameroon's digital activism ecosystem and what he thinks is necessary for the online impact to be felt offline.

He holds no punches when talking about his failed attempts at traditional digital advertising with local businesses, and his take on most Cameroonian bloggers.

We had a lot of fun recording this episode.

Florian continues to write strongly worded social commentary on his widely read blog: www.kamerkongossa.cm. You can find him on twitter as well- https://twitter.com/ngimbis

We're on iTunes, Sound Cloud and your Android Podcast App (we love Podcast Addict, and oh, this is not an Ad).

New episodes every Wednesday.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Bakwacast

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'Easy going' doesn't cut her demeanor. As soon as she starts explaining the games she played with her siblings, it's easy to notice that the light in her eyes glows from a genuine love of wonder.

Janet Fofang has been building things long before she knew books were a way to pass across knowledge. Long before the missionary family that ignited her interest in technical education. Her stay in boarding school didn't quell her hands-on approach to life, which explains why a lot of her later years, starting from the university, were spent working on the forefront of the technology at the time.

She had to understand how things worked at the fundamental level. She wrote code on paper at a time when offline compilers were a thing of the future. And even with her kids, her stance on self-affirmation and taking responsibility for one's life seeps through.

She's been teaching for decades and her knack for elaborate storytelling is evident in her journey as the curious little sister who now fights for everyone, not just women, to understand the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Links in this episode:

1. https://www.techwomen.org/impact-story/janet-fofang

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New episodes every Wednesday.

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In many ways, Christine Eyene carries her history on her sleeve. Born in France, raised with Bikutsi, she falls in love with art without discovering how much it had existed before her birth. In her quest to understand the fallacies she'd observed, she begins a career as an Art Historian. This sense of justice permeates her works and is expressed in her exhibitions and recent projects-YAPHOTO and EYONART.

We had a lot of fun finding out that she was as lost as a majority of the twenty-somethings on the continent within that age range. We equally discovered the kind of environment that molded her identity and purpose, especially the influence of George Hallet.

We had a swell time mapping her path and her works. She is currently:

-Curator of the Summer of Photography 2018 at BOZAR, Brussels (27 June - 26 Aug 2018)

-Artistic Director of the 4th International Biennial of Casablanca opening in October.

Links in this podcast and where to find Christine:

1. https://yaoundephoto.net/- YAPHOTO

2.https://eyonart.org/- EYONART

3. https://eyonart.org/2016/01/11/george-hallett-jazz-in-exile/

4. https://eyonart.org/sop2018/

5. https://www.biennalecasablanca.org/committee-announced

We're on iTunes, Sound Cloud and your Android Podcast App (we love Podcast Addict, and oh, this is not an Ad).

New episodes every Wednesday.

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How does an art historian learn how to skate?

What happens in the mind of an angry social commentator?

Could a tech woman code, and cook with the same dexterity?

On this first season of Bakwacast, we bring conversations you won't find anywhere else. Chats with makers and builders, readings from the Limbe-Lagos exchange programme, and Fiction works from young Nigerian writers who have featured on Bakwa Magazine.

Save the date: June 6. Subscribe to us on iTunes, SoundCloud and on your podcast app for Android devices.

And hey...don't forget to tell your friends!

Ahead of our long awaited podcast launch, here's to whet your palate for intimate conversations, live events and everything in between.

We went through scores of music online to finally settle for a very Fela-infused tune by prolific creator Ottis McDonald. The voices you hear range from budding writers, actors, models and, if you listen very closely, you may hear our producer- Tchassa Kamga, who put this all together.

We're very excited for the coming days. Major announcements on the way as the things we've been hoarding, and working on, would finally come to the light of the Internet.

Enjoy, hit that share button and don't forget to subscribe to our Newsletter in order to be first to get the episodes when they go live.