I've been wondering about words and roots recently; the languages we use to tell our stories and where they come from. This has been sparked by writing a story set in the land of my birth, Zambia, where I raise the issue of land and language - i.e. the naming of things, from the original ...

I have heard my YA book The Stone Chameleon has been selected as part of a Virtual Book exhibition themed Books for Africa, from Africa. This was set up by IBBY, the International Board on Books for Young People. The 84 selected African books were taken to be displayed as part of the World IBBY ...

This is a brief addendum to mention I've added an update to my section on SF in South Africa, entitled Part 3: South African SF – i.e. Speculative Fiction, not just Science. This extends an article I have had recently published in Vector, the BSFA critical journal. As regards recent and current reading, I have just ...

I mentioned a few blogs ago that Internova may be publishing an overview of SF in SA by Gail Brunette – unfortunately they have not been able to publish another hard-copy issue and are looking at moving online – see http://www.nova-sf.de/html/en/index.htm. I will look to hopefully update my own column on SF in South Africa ...

We're back in the UK after a stunning trip through the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand, as well as a week in San Fransisco to break up the jet-lag. May Day is over, heralding spring and workers' rights. For us, work starts again, but at least the pink and white blossoms are thick on ...

One final update before our brief venture into the South Island and then leaving these beautiful shores of Aotearoa New Zealand. I have an article entitled Some Thoughts On South African Science Fiction probably due for print publication later this year - the title hints at this as a personal reflection ...

We are definitely relocating back to London after 18 months in Aotearoa New Zealand, effective from April 20th.

I hope you have all had at least a good, if not a great start to 2006! I have unfortunately not been able to make contact with Jaroslav Olsa, a knowledgeable man with regard to SF in Africa. I will keep trying. I do believe, however, that Internova, a magazine of International SF, may be publishing ...