The 2024 British Fantasy Awards Shortlists were just announced. There were 5 African authors and 9 total pieces included in this shortlist. There were many categories with incredible work, so this is truly an accomplishment!

The British Fantasy Awards (BSFA) are the longest running fantasy awards in the United Kingdom. The awards have been held annually since 1970. There are a total of 16 different categories with talent from around the world that are being awarded this year.

This is what the BSFA Awards are all about according to their website:

They are fan awards that not only seek to honour the most worthy examples in each category, but also to promote the genre of science fiction, and get people reading, talking about, and enjoying all that contemporary science fiction has to offer.

The initial longlist included 34 African writers. These categories were extremely competitive with the amount of talented pieces included in each. It was a hard competition for all of the authors in the longlist.

The longlist was dwindled down into a shortlist through voting that occurred after the longlist was announced. The shortlist includes work published in 2023. The shortlist was chosen by the amount of votes cast by the British Science Fiction Awards (BFSA) members and attendees at Fantasycon. The titles that are voted for the most are included in the shortlist.

The final winner of each category is chosen from the shortlist by a panel of jurors. The awards admin, Katherine Fowler, will be the one to communicate the winners of each category.

The winners will be announced at Fantasycon from October 11th – October 13th.

See the shortlisted African writers below:

Best Collection 

  • Jackal, Jackal – Tobi Ogundiran
  • Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology – Edited by Wole Talabi

Best Novel 

  • Shigidi And The Brass Head Of Obalufon – Wole Talabi

Best Non-Fiction (Long) 

  • Ex Marginalia: Essays on Writing Speculative Fiction by Persons of Color – Chinelo Onwualu

Best Short Fiction

  • “Lady Koi Koi: A Book Report” – Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Apex Magazine)

Best Short Non-Fiction 

  • “Dominant Themes in Afro-Centric Fiction” – Eugen Bacon (Aurealis)
  • “Exposition Tax: The hidden burden of writing from the margins” – Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Hydra House)
  • “Prisoners In The Temple Of The Muses” – Wole Talabi (Anciillary Review of Books)

 Best Shorter Fiction 

  • “Broken Paradise” – Eugen Bacon (Luna Press)

Congratulations to the shortlisted African authors on this achievement!

For more information about the British Fantasy Awards and to see the full shortlist go here.