The 2018 shortlists for the four Nommo Awards for Speculative Fiction by Africans have just been announced. Among the shortlisted are Nnedi Okorafor, Sofia Somatar, last year’s Best Novel Award winner Tade Thompson, Caine Prize 2007 winner Henrietta Rose-Innes, sci-fi works compiler Wole Talabi, and Sibongile Fisher, whose chosen story, “A Door Ajar,” won the 2016 Short Story Day Africa Prize and was a finalist for the 2017 Brittle Paper Award for Fiction.
READ: Photos | Nommo Awards 2017: How Africa’s First Ever Speculative Fiction Awards Ceremony Happened
The Nommo Awards, founded in 2016 by the African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS), recognise the finest fantasy or science fiction works by Africans. The ASFS is a body of African writers, editors, publishers and graphic artists who nominate shortlisted works and vote for the winners. The awards are given in four categories: the US$1000 Best Novel named after the awards benefactor Tom Ilube, the US$500 Best Novella, the US$500 Best Short Story, and the US$1000 Best Comic or Graphic Novel.
Over the next three months, ASFS members will vote for the winners in each category from the shortlists.
READ: Wole Talabi’s Compilation of 654 Works of African Speculative Fiction Should Top Your Reading List
THE ILUBE NOMMO AWARD FOR BEST SPECULATIVE FICTION NOVEL BY AN AFRICAN (US$1000)
- OUR MEMORY LIKE DUST, Gavin Chait
- THE REAL, Masha du Toit
- FEVER, Deon Meyer
- BEASTS MADE OF NIGHT, Tochi Onyebuchi
- AFTER THE FLARE, Deji Olokotun
- AKATA WARRIOR, Nnedi Okorafor
THE NOMMO AWARD FOR BEST SPECULATIVE FICTION NOVELLA BY AN AFRICAN (US$500)
- BINTI: HOME, Nnedi Okorafor
- FALLOW, Sofia Samatar
- THE MURDERS OF MOLLY SOUTHBOURNE, Tade Thompson
THE NOMMO AWARD FOR BEST SPECULATIVE FICTION SHORT STORY BY AN AFRICAN (US$500)
- “ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SEA,” Nerine Dorman, in Omenana
- “A DOOR AJAR,” Sibongile Fisher, in Short Story Day Africa: Migrations
- “READ BEFORE USE,” Chinelo Onwualu, in Uncanny Magazine
- “SNAKE STORY,” Henrietta Rose-Innes, in The Johannesburg Review of Books
- “THE REGRESSION TEST,” Wole Talabi, in The Manchester Review. First published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
THE NOMMO AWARDS FOR BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL/COMIC (US$1000)
- ERU, written and illustrated by Tobe Ezeogu and Ozo Ezeogu
- HERO KAKERE, written and illustrated by Tobe Ezeogu and Kelechi Issac
- IRETI BIDEMI, written and illustrated by Michael Balogun and Adeleye Yusuf
- LAKE OF TEARS, written and illustrated by Kwabena Ofei and Setor Fiadzigbey
- GUARDIAN PRIME GENESIS, written and illustrated by Wale Awelenje and Jide Martin
- QUEST & THE SIGN OF THE SHINING BEAST, written and illustrated by Robert S Malan and John Cockshaw
In 2017, the Nommo Award for Best Comic or Graphic Novel was awarded to The Corpse Exhibition, edited by Ntone Edjabe. The Nommo Award for Best Short Story went to “The Marriage Plot” by Tendai Huchu and “Who Will Greet You at Home?” by Lesley Nneka Arimah. The Nommo Award for Best Novella went to Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. The Ilube Award for Best Novel went to Rosewater by Tade Thompson.
The winners of the 2018 Nommo Awards will be announced at the Ake Arts and Book Festival in October 2018.
Congratulations to the shortlisted writers.
For more information, please email [email protected].
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