https://larakareem.com/blog/ Thoughts, glitches, and everything running in the background. en-gb https://larakareem.com/blog/ake-arts-and-book-festival-2025/ https://larakareem.com/blog/ake-arts-and-book-festival-2025/ Sun, 23 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000 💌 This post is a full on love fest, where I am being super positive and oh so thankful for my literary community at the Ake Arts and Book Festival 2025. Ake Arts and Book Festival 2025 has come to an end, but my heart is still full and I will be carrying this fullness for days to come. I’m currently wrapped in that warm, fuzzy feeling that reminds me, “I’m loved and I am exactly where I’m meant to be.” There’s something about the literary community, the energy, the madness of being surrounded by people who genuinel https://larakareem.com/blog/dating-in-lagos/ https://larakareem.com/blog/dating-in-lagos/ Sat, 27 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000 ⚠️ This post contains references to sexual coercion, emotional manipulation, and exploitative relationships. Dating in Lagos has shown me almost everything. I keep telling myself I’ve decentered men. That whatever script society has—about women needing men, marriage being the prize, keeping herself small—doesn’t apply to me anymore. I know better. I am not waiting around for rings or empty declarations. I don’t need someone’s son to validate my existence. https://larakareem.com/blog/when-loyalty-met-its-deadline/ https://larakareem.com/blog/when-loyalty-met-its-deadline/ Fri, 22 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000 ⚠️ This post discusses workplace stress, misrepresentation of events, and authority overreach. Take care while reading. This is my personal account based on contemporaneous emails, logs, and documents. Identities and non-essential details have been withheld for privacy. It’s been a hell of a professional year for me. The one goal I had at the beginning was to upskill—learn more, get better at my craft—and then by next year I’d quit and find another job. https://larakareem.com/blog/growing-up-with-domestic-violence/ https://larakareem.com/blog/growing-up-with-domestic-violence/ Wed, 23 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000 ⚠️ This post contains references to child abuse, domestic violence, and trauma. Please take care while reading. I didn’t plan to stay up late on a Monday night, especially knowing I had to be up at 6am. https://larakareem.com/blog/a-poetic-prelude-to-aanu-ife-by-lara-t-kareem/ https://larakareem.com/blog/a-poetic-prelude-to-aanu-ife-by-lara-t-kareem/ Sun, 08 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000 While Àànú Ifẹ́ is still months away from being published, before readers dive into the story, I want to offer readers a poetic introduction to the emotional core of the story with three poems I’ve carefully crafted: 'Lost in the Void,' 'A Quiet Unfolding,' and 'Return to Self.' https://larakareem.com/blog/flash-fiction-he-looked-up/ https://larakareem.com/blog/flash-fiction-he-looked-up/ Sat, 26 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 About three weeks ago, I participated in a fun flash fiction writing contest in my office, with a couple of my colleagues. The rules were simple. One hour to write a hundred words story that begins with the words “The floor tastes like…”