Nick Wood – Sept/Oct 2013

This month, a few things to mention.

Firstly, I’m pleased to have sold a short story follow up to ‘Of Hearts and Monkeys‘ called ‘The Girl who Called the World‘ to the Crossed Genres’ anthology “Fierce Family“:  http://crossedgenres.com/submissions/fierce-family/  This anthology will in all likelihood be out in 2014.

In addition, it looks likely Tade Thompson and my joint novella ‘The Last Pantheon‘ may well be appearing next year, although we have yet to receive final confirmation. South African super-hero against Nigerian Super-Villain…!? Really? Yes, really!

Africa in Words have interviews with Lauren Beukes http://africainwords.com/2013/08/29/jamessmithlaurenbeukes/ and Henrietta Rose-Innes http://africainwords.com/2013/08/23/qa-henrietta-rose-innes-new-voices-from-south-africa-at-the-edinburgh-international-book-festival/ who were at the Edinburgh Book Festival in late August 2013.

Talking of book festivals, Cape Town’s starts soon and includes Sally Partridge, Cat Hellisen and Sarah Lotz on writing YA fiction, along with spooky readings atop a Rocky Horror stage set I believe, sponsored by Fox and Raven (of which, see more below): http://openbookfestival.co.za/programme/fox-raven-readings-from-the-dark-side/  Also there will be Charlie Human and his ‘Apocalypse Now Now‘: http://openbookfestival.co.za/authors/charlie-human/

Speaking of Lauren Beukes, she will be there in Cape Town too and this year, she is also judging the General section of the Nova short story award (Science Fiction and Fantasy South Africa’s competition), due to end to submissions the last day of this month, i.e. 30th September. Arthur Goldstuck will be judging the South African section, so please get your story subs in soon and have a look at the SFFSA site too, which has download links to its quarterly magazine Probe. http://www.sfsa.org.za/Nova.html

Congrats to Dave-Brendon De Burgh for selling his novel ‘Betrayals Shadow‘ to Cape Town publisher Fox and Raven http://www.foxandraven.co.za/portfolio/announcement-betrayals-shadow-by-dave-brendon-de-burgh/ Mia Arderne also has ‘Pigs in Golfs‘ out with Fox and Raven, a local publisher worth watching: http://www.foxandraven.co.za/2013/09/02/interview-mia-arderne/

Books of interest I hope to comment on eventually – Carole McDonnell’sThe Constant Tower‘; Nerine Dorman’sInkarna‘ and The Future Fire’sWe See a Different Frontier‘ http://djibrilalayad.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/we-see-different-frontier-toc.html

The literary losses keep happening; most recently the wonderful poet Seamus Heaney and the SF writer, Fred Pohl. To the passing of the old…and to the emergence of new voices too.

So, as for new South African voices, try ‘The Ghost Eater and Other Stories‘, edited by Diane Awerbuck and Louis Greenberg: (who has a novel entitled ‘Dark Windows‘, due out in April 2014) http://umuzi.bookslive.co.za/blog/2013/09/02/thirty-one-new-writers-debut-in-the-ghost-eater-and-other-stories/

(Finally, for anyone interested, my twitter name is nick45wood…)

Keep writing – and reading!

Sep 2013/Nick Wood