In a city where things move at cut throat speed, there’s never time to stop and think about the next person. It’s not therefore uncommon for ambition and the need for survival to trump humanity and human connection. Accra’s underbelly is one of this places and Billie Mcternan in her Caine Prize nominated story ‘The Labadi Sunshine Bar’ tells the story of an ambitious sex worker with dreams of her own, who will do anything to achieve her dreams. In a hustle, it’s kind of irrelevant what you do in the hustle because 'all hustle na’ hustle'.

On this episode, we speak to Billie on her shortlisted story, originally published in Accra Noir (2021), her reflections on her home city of Accra and an encounter that inspired this story. Enjoy the episode!

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Billie McTernan is a writer, artist and editor whose practice considers ways of expanding the possibilities of writing by experimenting with form

She has written for The Guardian, Africa is a Country among others

Billie also hosts a radio show ‘A Gift from Somewhere’ on Tenthaus Radio