Nnedi Okorafor, Tomi Adeyemi, Tiah Beautement, Tendai Huchu, Imraan Coovadia Make 28-Strong Shortlists for $3,000 Nommo Awards

The shortlists for the 2019 Nommo Awards for Speculative Fiction by Africans have been announced. This comes weeks after the longlists were released.

The $3,000 Nommo Awards, founded in 2016 by the African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS), recognise the finest fantasy or science fiction works by Africans published in the preceding year. 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.

There are 28 works shortlisted this year: six for Best Novel, four for Best Novella, seven for Best Short Story, and eleven for Best Comic or Graphic Novel. While there are known names who made it—most notably Tomi Adeyemi, Tiah Beautement, Tendai Huchu, Imraan Coovadia, Cat Hellisen, and Nnedi Okorafor, with three different books—some buzzing books and notable names missed out: the Ghanaian-Canadian Esi Edugyan’s novel Washington Black and the Liberian Wayetu Moore’s She Would Be King, most notably among books; and then the Liberian novelist Hawa Jande Golakai, the South African writer Mohale Mashigo, and the Nigerian writers Wole Talabi and Mazi Nwonwu, among writers.

Over the next three months, ASFS members will vote for the winners in each category from the shortlists.

Here are the shortlists.

NOVEL SHORT LIST NOMINEES CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE Tomi Adeyemi Tomi Adeyemi is a Nigerian-American writer and creative writing coach based in San Diego, California. After graduating Harvard University with an honors degree in English literature, she received a fellowship that allowed her to study West African mythology and culture in Salvador, Brazil. When she’s not working on her novels or watching Scandal, she can be found blogging and teaching creative writing to her 4,500 subscribers at tomiadeyemi.com. Her website has been named one of the 101 best websites for writers by Writer’s Digest. EMPTY MONSTERS Cat Hellisen Cat Hellisen writes weird, lush speculative fiction for adults and children. She’s the author of When the Sea is Rising Red and Beastkeeper, and her short fiction and poetry have appeared in various magazines and anthologies, including Tor.com, Apex Magazine, Shimmer and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Her story ‘The Worme Bridge’ was a winner of the Short Story Day Africa Award. FRESHWATER  Akwaeke Emezi Akwaeke Emezi is an Igbo and Tamil writer and video artist based in liminal spaces and a 2018 National Book Foundation ‘5 Under 35’ honoree. Their autobiographical debut novel Freshwater was a finalist for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize and has been translated into six languages. Their first young adult novel, PET, will be published in 2019 by Knopf; their second adult novel, The Death of Vivek Oji, is forthcoming from Riverhead Books. Their writing has been published by T Magazine, Dazed, Buzzfeed, The Cut, and Granta Online, among others. KNUCKLEBONE  Nechama Brodie Nechama Brodie is a veteran print, broadcast, and online journalist and is the author of several best-selling non-fiction books including the critically acclaimed urban histories The Joburg Book and The Cape Town Book. Nechama is the former head of TRI Facts training and research at independent fact-checking organisation Africa Check, and is an occasional lecturer and mentor at the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Journalism where she is also a PhD candidate researching South African media coverage of femicide. Knucklebone is Nechama’s first novel. THE STRANGE Masha du Toit Masha du Toit writes fantasy and science fiction set in alternate world South Africa. She trained as a visual artist at the University of Cape Town, specialising in bronze casting. Then she completed a masters in Information Technology. After many years of teaching the creative use of digital media she finally focused on her true passion, writing her own stories. A SPY IN TIME  Imraan Coovadia Imraan Coovadia was born in Durban in 1970. He is also the author of the novels The Wedding, Green-Eyed Thieves, High Low In-between and The Institute for Taxi Poetry. He has also published a study of V.S. Naipaul, as well as a collection of essays, Transformations, and has contributed to several publications including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Independent, Chimurenga and The Times of India. His work has won the Sunday Times Fiction Prize, the University of Johannesburg Prize and the M-Net Prize. NOVELLA SHORT LIST NOMINEES BINTI: THE NIGHT MASQUERADE Nnedi Okorafor Nnedi Okorafor is an international award-winning novelist of African-based science fiction, fantasy and magical realism for both children and adults. Born in the United States to two Nigerian immigrant parents, Nnedi is known for weaving African culture into creative evocative settings and memorable characters. In a profile of Nnedi’s work titled, “Weapons of Mass Creation”, The New York Times called Nnedi’s imagination “stunning”.  Her many works include Who Fears Death, Lagoon and the previous novellas in the Binti series.  She is also the writer for Marvel Comics of Black Panther and related graphic novels. Among her many awards and honours, the Wole Soyinka Prize was awarded to her in 2008. The BINTI series were originally published by tor.com; the books are now available together in a single edition. THE FIREBIRD Nerine Dorman Nerine Dorman is a South African author and editor of SF and fantasy currently residing in Cape Town. Her YA fantasy novel Dragon Forged was a finalist in the 2017 Sanlam Youth Literature Prize, with her SF novel Sing Down the Stars a finalist for the 2019 prize in the English category. Her short story, “On the Other Side of the Sea”, was shortlisted for a 2018 Nommo award. The Firebird, a fantasy novella, was a semi-finalist in the 2019 SPFBO competition. In addition, she is a founding member of the SFF authors’ co-operative Skolion and is the curator of the South African Horrorfest Bloody Parchment event and short story competition. THE FIREBIRD is available as an e-book and print publication from Amazon. HARD MARY Sofia Samatar Sofia Samatar is the author of the novels A Stranger in Olondria and The Winged Histories, the short story collection, Tender, and Monster Portraits, a collaboration with her brother, the artist Del Samatar. Her work has won several awards, including the World Fantasy Award. She teaches African literature, Arabic literature, and speculative fiction at James Madison University. HARD MARY was published in Lightspeed‘s 100th issue, available as e-book and paperback. NEID-FIRE Caldon Mull Caldon Mull has had a long publishing career in technology and various game publications under different nom de plumes, and in his own name. He has travelled extensively throughout Africa and Central Asia, and has worked in Antarctica as a radio technician while also consulting for the business and military sectors. He has an honours degree in anthropology, and when he is not currently working in a technology field, he is usually writing science fiction and fantasy. He is always looking to expand his genre work into new directions. NEID-FIRE is available via Amazon. SHORT STORY SHORT LIST NOMINEES BRAND NEW WAYS (to lose you over and over and over again)   Blaize Kaye Blaize Kaye is a South African writer living on the Kapiti coast in New Zealand. He has previously been shortlisted for the Nommo Award for Speculative Short Fiction, the Short Story Day Africa Prize, and is a past winner of the Bloody Parchment short story competition.  His work has appeared in Omenana, The Kalahari Review, and Strange Horizons, among others. Visit www.bomoko.net for a complete bibliography. Read ‘Brand New Ways (to lose you over and over and over again)’ online at Omenana magazine issue 12. THE GIRL WHO STARED AT MARS  Cristy Zinn Cristy Zinn is a South African writer.  She sold her first short story to the AfroSF anthology in 2015.  Her first book, The Dreamer’s Tears, came out in April of 2015 from Fox & Raven Publishers.  Her second book a YA fantasy novel, Of Magic and Memory was published in 2018. She lives in Durban with her husband and two children who she says,  ‘graciously endure my obsession with stories and my lack of cooking skills.’ ‘The Girl Who Stared at Mars’ was published in AfroSFV3 edited by Ivor W. Hartmann. THE LUMINAL FRONTIER   Biram Mboob Biram Mboob was born in The Gambia and grew up in various countries across Africa. His stories have appeared in a number of magazines, including Granta and Sable, as well as a number of anthologies including AfroSF, Apex Book of World SF, Tell Tales, and Dreams, Miracles and Jazz. ‘The Luminal Frontier’ was published in AfroSFV3 edited by Ivor W. Hartmann. Photo: Helen Moffett MEMENTO MORI Tiah Marie Beautement Tiah Marie Beautement is the author of two novels, including This Day (2014, Modjaji) and numerous short stories. Her latest publication is May I Want (2018, Stubborn Raven). She is the managing editor of the The Single Story Foundation’s journal, teaches writing to all ages, and freelances for a variety of publications. She lives on the South African Garden Route with her family, two dogs, and a small flock of chickens. Her hobbies include horse riding and zipping along as a pillion on motorcycles, although not at the same time. Read ‘Memento Mori’ online at Omenena Magazine, issue 12 NJUZU T.L. Huchu T.L. Huchu’s work has appeared or is due to appear in Lightspeed, Interzone, AfroSF, The Apex Book of World SF 5, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, The Year’s Best Crime and Mystery Stories 2016, and elsewhere. He enjoys working across different genres, especially SFF, crime and literary fiction. Currently, he’s working on a new fantasy series Ghostalker: The Library of the Dead. Find him @TendaiHuchu. ‘Njuzu’ was first published in AfroSFV3 edited by Ivor W. Hartmann and is available online at The Johannesburg Review of Books. ORIGAMI ANGELS Derek Lubangakene Derek Lubangakene lives and works in Kampala, Uganda. Despite growing up in a house full of books, he only started writing after failing as an origami artist, a sketch-artist and poet. Between his day job and his moonlighting as a writer, he also works as a contributing editor at Deyu African Magazine, an online repository of contemporary African writing. He has been long-listed for the 2013 Golden Baobab Early-Chapter Book Prize, the 2017 Writivism Short Story Prize, and a honorable mention in the 2016 Short Story Day Africa Prize–Migration theme. His work has appeared in Apex Magazine, Omenana, Enkare Review, the Imagine Africa 500 Anthology, with work forthcoming in Escape Pod.  He is currently working on his first novel. Read ‘Origami Angels’ online at Omenana magazine issue 11. THE WITCHING HOUR  Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald is a writer from Nigeria who studied law at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. His short story ‘The Witching Hour’ was published in Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores and made the Tangent online recommended reading list for 2018 with two stars. His novelette The Diary of The Dark Child got an honourable mention in the second quarter of the Writers of the Future contest 2018. He was winner of the Imbube creative writing contest 2017. Some of his other works have appeared in Dwarts Online and African Writer. He was longlisted for the Nigerian Students Poetry Prize 2017. His poems were published in the Poets In Nigeria (PIN) annual journal 2017. His poem was also published by NAPTIP, National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking In Persons in an anthology on human trafficking and child abuse titled The Uncomfortable Truth. He is a first reader in SFF mags Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores, Strange Horizons and a submissions editor at PodCastle. Read ‘The Witching Hour’ online at Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores. GRAPHIC NOVEL SHORT LIST NOMINEES AKISSI: TALES OF MISCHIEF Marguerite Abouet (writer),  Mathieu Sapin (Illustrator), Judith Taboy (Translator), Marie Bédrune (Translator) Flying Eye Books (English version, French original Gallimard)  Available commercially in print. BLACK PANTHER, LONG LIVE THE KING Nnedi Okorafor, André Araújo, Mario Del Pennino, Tana Ford, Aaron Covington Marvel Comics Available commercially in print and digitally through many outlets. ERU Tobe Max Ezeogu, Oz Ezeogu Available online for free from The Comic Republic KWEZI Loyiso Mkize, Mohale Mashigo, Clyde Beech New Africa Books Available commercially from the publishers and other outlets as an ebook or paperback. KARMZAH Farida Bedwei, and Ravi Allotey of Leti Arts Published by Afrocomix App, Leti Arts   MALIKA WARRIOR QUEEN PART TWO  Roye Okupe, Chima Kalu YouNeek Studios   ROVIK Yvonne Wanyoike, Kendi Mberia, Salim Busuru Published by Vibondu Comics, Avandu SHAKA RISING Luke Molver StoryPress Africa SHURI Nnedi Okorafor, Leonardo Romero Marvel Comics Available commercially in print and digitally through many outlets. TÀTÀSHÉ Cassandra Mark, Tobe Max Ezeogu Available online for free from The Comic Republic UNDER THE SUN Austine Osas, Abiodun Awodele, Yusuf Temitope Available online for free from Pedacomics Ltd ASFS MEMBERS: Click here to find out how to access the shortlisted works.

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Brittle Paper congratulates the finalists.