This year, two African authors are among the six nominees for the 2024 Philip K. Dick Award. The chosen authors are Tanzania-born author Eugen Bacon and Ugandan writer Dilman Dila. What an outstanding achievement!

The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States during the previous calendar year. The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust, and the award ceremony is sponsored by the Northwest Science Fiction Society.

Last year’s winner was The Extractionist by Kimberly Unger, with a special citation to Teh Legacy of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson.

The judges for this year’s award are Nicky Drayden, Gordon Eklund, Christopher V. Rowe, Kali Wallace (Chair), and Lisa Yaszek. They chose two African authors out of the six nominated works published in 2023 that comprise the final ballot for the award.

Eugen Bacon was nominated for Dangled Black Thing, a collection of stories about love and migration, gender and class, patriarchy and womanhood. Meanwhile, Dilman Dila’s nominated work was Where Rivers Go to Die, a collection of Ugandan Africanfuturist stories.

Check out the full shortlist here.

The winner and any special citations will be announced on Friday, March 29, 2024 at Norwescon 46. Congrats to Bacon and Dila!