Nommo 2019: Short Story Nominations

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 by StoryTime, 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 by StoryTime, edited by Ivor W. Hartmann.

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 by StoryTime, 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.