We’re delighted to celebrate two of the stars of our Africa 39 project. H J Golakai’s The Lazarus Effect sends a Cape Town journalist, Voinjama Johnson, on an investigation into missing children. In Abubakar Adam Ibrahim’s Season of Crimson Blossoms, an affair between 55-year-old widow Binta Zubairu and 25-year-old weed dealer Reza was bound to provoke condemnation in conservative northern Nigeria. This story of love and longing – set against undercurrents of political violence – unfurls gently, revealing layers of emotion that defy age, class and religion.