Mythology, folklore and cultural memory from Nigeria and across Africa
Oriire is a non-profit publication documenting the mythology, folklore, traditions and cultural memory of Nigeria and across Africa. Founded in 2020 and registered as Oriire Heritage Foundation, we are community-supported and independent.
By the numbers
Reach figures from Google Analytics and Search Console, as of May 2026. Content counts update live.
Audience
Our audience includes educated, culturally curious and discerning individuals who seek depth over surface treatment. They are a high-intent audience that actively seeks out our content through organic search.
Top countries
Editorial pillars
Deities, spirits and cosmologies, folktales and legends, and beliefs about fate and personhood.
Festivals, rituals and customary practice, crafts and indigenous knowledge. The lived culture of a people.
History and heritage, diaspora, and how a people remembers itself.
What we publish
Long-form articles and essays
Rigorously researched pieces on African mythology, folklore, history, tradition and cultural memory.
The Oriire Codex
A growing digital encyclopedia of African mythological figures, deities, spirits, rituals and concepts. The Codex is integrated directly into the reading experience, so readers can hover over a figure for a definition and get recommendations as they read.
Folktales and Narrative Retellings
Traditional folktales, legends and narrative traditions, including retellings, translations and oral accounts, grounded in specific cultural or geographic contexts.
Encounters
Testimony or witness accounts of mythological or supernatural experiences, narrated as the witness told them, with parallel scholarly commentary.
Heritage Reviews
Critical reviews of African literature, art and cultural production.
Listicles
Aggregated, cross-referenced material for readers seeking shorter entry points into Oriire.
Challenges and Quizzes
Interactive content that tests and rewards knowledge of African mythology and cultural traditions.
The Oriire Podcast
Our award-winning audio series of conversations on African myth, tradition and cultural memory.
Annual initiatives
The Oriire Folklore Prize
Our annual literary prize for new writing on folklore from Nigeria and across Africa. Categories include Folktales and Narrative Retellings, Encounters, and Essays.
The Oriire Journal
Our annual digital and print-on-demand publication featuring the best of Oriire's work alongside curated and commissioned material. The 1st Edition launches December 2026.
The Author's Dispatch
Our monthly newsletter for the contributor network, with commissioning calls, editorial notes and updates.
The Monthly Roundup
Our monthly newsletter for general readers, featuring the best of recent publication.
Principles
Grounded and alive
We treat African mythology as real scholarship and tell it with wonder. Accurate, sourced where it can be, and a pleasure to read.
Continental and diasporic
We start with Nigeria, but Oriire spans the continent and its diaspora.
Contributors are paid
Writers, researchers and editors are credited and compensated. We pay the people who build Oriire.
Free to read
Reading is free. The platform survives on memberships, donations and partnerships.
Editorially independent
We do not run ads or sell reader data.
Press & recognition
Why work with Oriire
A structural reference asset
The Oriire Codex is a digital reference for African mythology at a scale no other platform on the continent has. Articles, podcasts and prize entries all draw from and feed back into it.
Strong organic discovery
75% of our traffic is organic search. Partnerships sit within content readers actively sought out.
A diaspora bridge
A growing community of African traditional religion practitioners across the Americas and Europe use Oriire as a cultural and reference touchstone.
A registered Nigerian foundation
Oriire Heritage Foundation is registered in Nigeria, making us eligible for partnerships with African and African-diaspora funding bodies.
Partnership opportunities
Named sponsorship of the Folklore Prize
Sponsors are named on the announcement page, the shortlist page and in all press, and receive copies of the end-of-year journal.
Named sponsorship of The Oriire Journal
The 1st Edition launches December 2026. Sponsors are named and featured on their own page or pages in the journal, and named in launch communications and press.
Editorial series sponsorship
Sponsor a themed series of articles or a specific pillar (Mythology, Tradition or Memory) for a defined period.
Newsletter sponsorship
Sponsor a monthly Roundup or Author's Dispatch send.
Codex contributions
Fund the expansion of the Codex, or a specific cultural or geographic section of it.
Academic and institutional partnerships
Collaborate on heritage projects, archives and cultural initiatives.
Contributor pool
Join our contributor network as a researcher, writer or creative.
Reach the founder and editorial team directly at info@oriire.com.