African writers claimed three wins and multiple nominations at the 2025 Ignyte Awards. It celebrates excellence in speculative fiction and honor the vibrancy and diversity of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. The awards, presented by FIYAH Literary Magazine, recognize outstanding work across multiple categories, from novels to poetry to critical nonfiction.
Kenyan writer Shingai Njeri Kagunda won Outstanding Novelette for “We Who Will Not Die,” published in Psychopomp. The win marks another major achievement for Kagunda, whose work continues to push boundaries in African speculative fiction. She was also featured as a contributor to the winning Outstanding Creative Nonfiction collection.
Nigerian writer Wole Talabi was nominated for the Community Award, which honors outstanding efforts in service of inclusion and equitable practice in genre.
The Outstanding Creative Nonfiction award went to Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction, edited by Eugen Bacon and published by Bloomsbury Academic. The collection features critical essays by Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga, Cheryl S. Ntumy, Dilman Dila (Uganda), Nerine Dorman (South Africa), Nuzo Onoh (Nigeria), Shingai Njeri Kagunda (Kenya), Stephen Embleton, Tobi Ogundiran (Nigeria), and Xan van Rooyen. The anthology represents a significant contribution to scholarship on African speculative fiction, examining how Afrocentric perspectives reshape and reimagine speculative storytelling.
African writers were also strongly represented among the nominees. Botswana writer Tlotlo Tsamaase was shortlisted in Outstanding Novel: Adult for Womb City (Erewhon Books), a dystopian thriller that has earned widespread acclaim. Nigerian writer Suyi Davies Okungbowa won the Outstanding Novella for Lost Ark Dreaming. Nigerian poet Fasasi Ridwan won the Outstanding Speculative Poetry for “Reliving: Post Trauma of the Lekki Tollgate Massacre,” published in Strange Horizons, a poem addressing state violence and collective trauma.
The strong showing of African writers across categories underscores the continent’s growing influence in global speculative fiction. These nominations and wins reflect not just individual excellence but the depth and breadth of African speculative storytelling, which continues to challenge, expand, and enrich the genre.
Congratulations to all the African nominees and winners! See the full list here.
Ridwan Fasasi October 21, 2025 09:03
Hi Blessing Uwisike, This is Ridwan Fasasi, one of the mentioned writer in this article. Thank you for the mention. I wanted to highlight that the poem "Reliving: Post Trauma of the Lekki Tollgate Massacre,” published in Strange Horizons, won the Best Speculative Poetry Award. I would love that it is updated to that. I am always in awe of the work that the team at brittle paper is doing for the African literary scene. Thank you once again.