Heavy Lifting: Iko Africa’s Dream for African Literature.
I belong to a generation of writers whose passion for storytelling was perfectly aligned with the internet’s rise. I found access to books online as a kid — books I’d never have been able to find in Nigeria — and when I started writing, the platforms of choice were WordPress and the baba of them all, Wattpad. Wattpad was perfect for me; I had unhindered access to a community of readers for my stories and no gates between me and being a writer — I simply was. I still haven’t blown, but having that platform is why I am the writer I am today. Wattpad was created by people who cared about stories, and that care is why it is a success today.
During my days writing on Wattpad, I wrote what my reality was: stories influenced by what the other writers, usually of Western origin, were writing. After a year or two on Wattpad, I found writers like me, young African writers. We built a community, supporting each other and sharing our work and we stumbled around till we were not stumbling. We did our best, but being a minority, we could only do so much.
I always imagined what it was like to build a platform like that, a place where stories that were ours could take centre stage, and our voices would not be drowned out. I grew up, and I soon found I was not alone. The young African writer only wants a chance, and we get them from time to time, but we’re thousands. What platform caters to us? What platform would do the heavy lifting and make doors where there are none?
Iko Africa. (cue the fanfare and applause)
Iko means ‘words’ or ‘talk’, and the very clever choice of a name lends to the start-up’s intention to push storytelling in Africa. Challenging the status quo is no easy feat, but the cool guys who founded Iko have put together an amazing team of driven engineers, designers, writers and other people who constitute a nuisance (read as me) with a simple goal; to make it so writers of every genre in Africa receive value for their work.
The world of literature is very vast, and it is easy for stories to get lost in it all. Iko Africa is perfectly tailored to amplify the unique stories, perspectives and ideas that often go unnoticed on other platforms and create a social experience around them. This makes it easier for everyone to discover, create, and engage with high-quality content. When I joined Iko Africa, I came in because of the unique goal the team had to showcase the vibrant voices in African writing; my favourite thing about Iko Africa is that we care about our writers. Everyone who wants their voices heard is welcome; no article, poem or story is counted out. Since we launched in September 2023, the response has been amazing, and it shows me that we’re on the right path.
So here’s your view of what it’s like to build from inside the house we’re building for you all. Iko is a social literary platform, so aside from the storytelling aspect of it all, we hope to start conversations and interactions around work published on the platform. Communication between readers and writers — commenting, replying and messaging — makes it so writers know what’s what about their work and the readers can show love to their favourite writers. and in meeting people whom they can talk to about the stories, communities are formed around our work. We have many ideas, and the engineering team are undoubtedly sick of us, but with time, readers will be able to put whatever tokens they want towards their favourite writers as they read, and writers can put their work out and get paid for it.
This is where I tell you what I do for Iko Africa.
I work in the Editorial team, and my job is to read (I know, doing what I love, no?). Editorial reads every article, story and poem published on Iko every day. We showcase as many as we can — any stories that deserve to reach a larger audience — on our home page and all our social media articles. As the community grows, it will go from just over eight hundred stories read every week to stories in their thousands, but we will never stop sharing great work, and as Iko evolves into the social literary platform it is meant to be, readers and writers will only interact even more.
Our current work spotlights stories published on Iko Africa every week through Iko Selects and gives tips on writing and other helpful tools for writers on Iko Essentials. In Conversations, we engage in discussions published monthly with writers on Iko and provide a place for their never-before-read thoughts to live. My favourite thing to do is share my thoughts in our monthly Editorial, and for now, nobody stops me from going on about whatever I want to talk about.
*Looks left and right…
With thousands of users and stories already published on Iko, we’re on course, and every iteration and improvement is geared towards building a home for African writers all over the world. Democratising knowledge and providing value for our people, all our people.
If you’re looking for a home for your articles, short stories, poems and web novels, choose Iko Africa today. We care, and because we care, I know we’ll succeed.
Come through.
