Nick Wood – May/June 2013

I am pleased to report that the reception of AfroSF, the first anthology of African science fiction from African writers, has been generally very positive. http://www.amazon.co.uk/AfroSF-Science-Fiction-African-ebook/dp/B00AEUH112

I have included a broad range of links from online reviews since the publication of AfroSF, all of which make for interesting reading – often going on to contextualise the increasing expression of specifically African science fiction.

Strange Horizons: http://www.strangehorizons.com/reviews/2013/03/afrosf_edited_b.shtml

BookShy: http://bookshybooks.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/book-review-afrosf-science-fiction-by_23.html

LitRo magazine: http://www.litro.co.uk/2013/01/afrosf-science-fiction-by-african-writers-2/

The Future Fire: http://reviews.futurefire.net/2012/12/hartmann-afrosf.html

Nerine Dorman: http://nerinedorman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/afrosf-science-fiction-by-african.html

Brittle Paper: http://brittlepaper.com/2013/06/african-science-fiction-comeback-review-afrosf-matt-omelsky/

THe Hindu: http://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/present-imperfect-future-tense/article4588039.ece

Le Monde: http://mondediplo.com/2013/06/13scifi

The success of AfroSF has meant that a Volume 2 is planned, aiming at novella length work, with submissions due March 14th, 2014, here: https://afrosf.submittable.com/submit

Tade Thompson and I, both contributors to the first volume of AfroSF, have co-written a novella entitled ‘The last pantheon’, which we very much hope may eventually see the light of day in AfroSF, vol.2. This was fun to write, an African super-hero drama, looking both at African history and what it means to be human. (With plenty of action thrown into the mix. This was my first collaboration – and will also, I hope, be fun to read!)

See here for my article on a black South African super-hero called ‘Mighty Man’, from the apartheid 1970’s: http://southafricancomicbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/sowetos-super-man-mighty-man-and-mid.html

Finally, the Kwani? Manuscript Prize winners have been announced. Congratulations to all, including the winner Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi from Uganda and The Kintu Saga’. My novel, ‘Azanian Bridges’ was long-listed and, given Kwani’s stated intent to support publishing novels on the short-list and several from the long-list, I am hoping this book of mine may yet find its way to readers.

Indeed, I have recently written about African literary Awards on my website – SF in SA part 18 – and another positive of the Kwani? Award mentioned by both Billy Kahora and Jamal Mahjoub, was the wider focus on a batch of books with potential and not just one winner.

Still, a winner always deserves many plaudits – congratulations to Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and the entire short-list as well:

http://manuscript.kwani.org/kwani-manuscript-project-news-jennifer.php

Nick Wood

London

July 7th 2013