I was pleased this month that Thirstlands won a British Science Fiction Association Orbiter writing competition, judged by Ian Watson, whose science fiction work I've read since the nineteen seventies.

I would like to acknowledge Gail Jamieson of Science Fiction South Africa for supplying another issue of Probe - the latest - number 137. Two episodes now available on a downloads page. Furthermore, also to note that Science Fiction South Africa are imminently publishing a Best of South African Science Fiction III. I hope to ...

The 2008 Caine Prize for African Writing has been won by Henrietta Rose-Innes, a South African writer who has written a science-fictional tale of a catastrophic event in Cape Town. The Guardian has posted the full story online at - http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jul/09/caineprize. An interesting analysis of this story and why so little African science-fiction has been ...

This is just a very brief blog this month as I've written another section (8) to the SF in SA area of the website, focusing on 'insider' and 'outsider' African speculative fiction, with reference to two worthwhile collections. I hope you enjoy - please e-mail me if you have any comments, corrections or suggestions! Nick ...

Unfortunately it looks like only the first issue of Escape Velocity is still available as a free download. However, I aim to upload my article on Right and Wrong Stuff: Psychological Factors in Space Flight due out in EV4 in July, after sufficient post-publication time has expired. What I have been able to ...

Moving on from the musical mention last month - Toumani Diabate, I was again fortunate to witness and hear some wonderful African music again - this time it was the son of the late great Ali Farka Toure - Vieux. Hearing his guitar play, it made me realise the father does indeed live on ...

Just a brief update this month - firstly, to let you know that free downloads of Escape Velocity magazine are available: here: Mindreader is in Escape Velocity, issue 2, if anyone is interested. Secondly, to alert you of the publication of a new African spec-fic magazine from Cape Town, South Africa: Chimurenga: – a ...

I’ve just heard that my story 'Thirstlands' has just been short-listed for the Aeon Awards 2008. I am currently dipping in and out of a book on African history as work allows. It's the pre-colonial history that particularly fascinates me, not just the colonial or post-colonial periods. This interest has been nurtured by many conversations ...

I have received two stories from 'learners' (students) from Sinethemba High School and have uploaded the one, which ends with a wonderful poem. The author, Sinethemba, writes with English as his second or even possibly his third language, and gives some interesting ideas in his story – he's the one at the back in ...

What is change? This is one of the 'problem based learning' exercise questions we sometimes ask our new clinical psychology trainees to research and report on, with particular reference to clinical practice. It's a peculiarly science fictional theme too, where the notion of the 'future' as distinct from the present is speculated upon, very often ...