100 African Writers of SFF

Post date: Jan 31, 2018 3:35:51 PM

Geoff Ryman's "100 African Writers of SFF" has its new home at Strange Horizons: http://strangehorizons.com/100-african-writers-of-sff/

Winner of the British Science Fiction Association Award Best Non-Fiction 2016

About that title...

100: Because it’s easy to remember. More like 120 or 130 writers, but many I won’t get to meet. I’ll list as many as I can by location, by social scene. Because people, even writers, succeed in groups.

AFRICAN: Meaning mostly people with African citizenship in Africa, but I’m not going to be draconian. Writers like Nnedi Okorafor and Sofia Samatar are beacons to young Africans. They take an active role in African publishing projects—Nnedi with Lagos 2060 and AfroSF and Sofia with the Jalada Afrofuture(s) anthology, which she helped edit. “African” itself is a dubious concept. I will try to use more precise terms—nations, cities, and peoples.

WRITERS: Will include filmmakers, poets, and comics artists. Not all of them have published frequently. Some have only published themselves, but given the lack of publisher opportunities, I think that’s enterprising. They’re still writers.

SFF: Stands for science fiction and fantasy. I use the term in its broadest sense to include generic SF and fantasy, horror, alternative histories, speculative fiction, slipstream, variations on Kafka, fables, nonsense, and more.

Check back regularly for the latest edition.

Part 1: Nairobi

Part 2: Writers in the UK

Part 3: Cape Town

Part 4: Malawi

Part 5: Interview with Sofia Samatar

Part 6: Cape Town - The Writers

Part 7: Kampala, Uganda