The Locus Awards has revealed its top ten finalists in each category for 2025, celebrating outstanding achievements in science fiction, fantasy, and horror literature. Voted on by readers of Locus Magazine, the awards highlight fan-favorite works across a variety of categories.

There are a number of African authors featured across many of the categories. Check out the list here:

Young Adult Novel 
The Maid and the Crocodile, Jordan Ifueko (Harry N. Abrams, 2024)
First Novel
Womb City, Tlotlo Tsamaase (Erewhon Books)
Novella
She Who Knows, Nnedi Okorafor (DAW)
The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain, Sofia Samatar (Tordotcom)
Novellette
“Encore”, Wole Talabi (Omenana)
Anthology
Egypt + 100, Ahmed Naji, ed. (Comma Press)
Collection
Convergence Problems, Wole Talabi (DAW)
Nonfiction
Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction, Eugen Bacon (Bloomsbury Publishing)

Winners will be announced at the in-person Locus Awards Ceremony on June 21, 2025, at the historic Nile Hall in Preservation Park, downtown Oakland, California. Tochi Onyebuchi (War Girls) is set to be one of the special guests at the ceremony. Kemi Ashing-Giwa author of The Splinter in the Sky is a featured author.

Presented annually since 1971, the Locus Awards are among the most prestigious accolades in speculative fiction. Locus Magazine, a leading publication in the field since 1968, continues to shape and chronicle the world of science fiction and fantasy through its reviews, commentary, and coverage.