Stephen Embleton's Blog, page 8

Of Robots & War (Short Story) Published

 My latest short story, "Of Robots & War", published in The Shallow Tales Review "Paranature" #37 January 2022.

Available 31 January 2022

2021 WorldCon-DisConIII: PANEL TRANSCRIPT – Words and Awards—Creating Visibility in Africa

Words and Awards—Creating Visibility in Africa

Sunday 19th December

This panel decided to talk about WORDS – terms used to describe what we do – and where we feel our work fits into. Plus highlighting new writers to keep an eye on.

Mame Bougouma Diene, Dilman Dila, Mazi Nwonwu, Stephen Embleton

TRANSCRIPT:

All Mazi: Good afternoon, good morning. Good evening. Good afternoon afternoon, good morning, and good evening because people are watching online from all parts of the world. Good morning for somebody, he could after -- the afternoon for the other person. We come to this panel discussion on Africa. At the moment -- fiction from Africa. But aside from those who have made a big name from themselves, there are a multitude in Africa putting out work in the different genres. Today, we are going to look at the work and try to draw light and pay attention to them. In this conversation, I will be talking with a panel of established writers. Please introduce yourselves. I am a writer of fiction, a journalist, and a cofounder of a magazine --

Stephen: My name is Stephen Embleton, I write science fiction and fantasy, a number of particularly short works that have been published throughout the continent and internationally as well as my first science fiction novel which was published in the U.K.

Mazi: Thank you, Stephen.

Dilman: I'm a writer and a filmmaker. I am based in Uganda. My short stories have been in a few works here and there. Most recently, there was a short compilation of my works . Briefly, that is me.

Mazi: Thank you. Mame, let's come to you.

Mame: I'm generally a speculative fiction writer and also a minor Francophone editor. I've got a regular column, maybe we will have time to talk about that.

Mazi: Thank you. I apologize again for the plane that goes by. I want to start with you. The question that I want to ask is in terms of words, -- Mame: that's a really interesting question. Obviously if we are looking at the angles -- the Anglosphere, clearly Afro futurism has gained a foothold in representing black arts, black speculative arts, generally. And it's interesting to see how the Afro futurism is coming to -- I'm not sure if the word challenge is completely accurate, but maybe to complement the vision of what Afrofuturism wants to be, or have -- if you have both terms that can exist on even footing. Obviously, those are the 2 -- again, I'm not sure of the dichotomy. Maybe there is a bit of an overlap. When it comes to my column, I found it wasn't really appropriate for Africa in the sense that it reduces us to a Western racial dynamic as opposed to looking at what the continent has to offer north to south and also all those variations brought in by colonialism because there was only so much you can do about the past besides addressing it the present. I started that column by looking at Afro Brazilian speculative fiction, thinking it would be interesting to see what Afro Brazilian authors think of the terminology and how it plays out in the Anglosphere. It was a mixed bag. Two of them said that they used the term. The other two said that they don't necessarily consider themselves futuristic because they don't write speculative fiction, but they write steamo punk. One of them said I use it because it does help you position yourself in a certain sphere and gain some traction for the work. But it's not necessarily something that I would cling to. It was supposed to be a one-off thing but then it stayed and I just kept using ironically and now it is irony inside of irony inside of irony. What I do see, from the continent specifically, is that when I discuss Afro futurism with nodding was writers, they have barely heard of the term at all. The reaction most interesting to me was the bit about the discussion of the guy who writes mostly supernatural crime. We were having a conversation about all international scene, and he is stuck in this Francophone bubble where it is very difficult to do that kind of visibility. And he said that sounds like an interesting discussion, maybe I will look into it one day. The concept of African futurism hasn't been ingrained in the way he was made to think about his art or the political positioning he had to find with his own words. And so it is all of those terms and none of those terms. But obviously I think if you want to have an honest discussion about where is we are, who it is we are as a collective, if that is what you are about as an author, as a person, I think African tourism is one that pushes us to have conversations that are a little bit more pertinent, also sometimes painful.

Mazi: Thank you.

[INDISCERNIBLE]

Stephen, why don't we talk about that? It is likely or trying to copy what the Americans are doing. I always see Afro futurism as something political, it is like a conscious movement. I don't think there is any cultural design beyond the individual level. An individual sense of what he wants to do probably has an easier way of doing it. But then African futurism differentiated entirely. Can you maybe expand on that a little bit?

Stephen: Firstly, I didn't really resonate with Afro futurism as a term and I think what has fortunately come out with the advent of the Africanfuturism and expanded single word that was coined by Nnedi Okorafor and described, I think there is later discussion that makes a distinction between the two, which I appreciate. I tend to lean toward the Africanfuturism for lots of reasons, but I think also with us writing, we don't seem to be writing with a particular term or genre in mind other than broadly speaking speculative and fantasy and that kind of thing. My new novel is purely fantasy. It is based on traditional beliefs and that kind of thing. Africanfuturism doesn't have the themes in that story. There is no futurism involved, it is present day, is young adults, all those kind of fantasy themes. The other thing that I am also quite adamant about is that we should be the ones discussing and coming up with those terms. Nothing is ever carved in stone. It is for us, the writers and obviously the people reading to work out what those new terms are to frame our work from our perspective, because what is going to happen is that the outside world is going to do the labeling for us and we are not going to like those labels. Rather, we should be having these discussions like we are now to say well, what is African fantasy? I know there is Africanjujuism is a term used to incorporate the magical, the fantastical in terms of African literature. That is one, but there should be more. We should be having those discussions and coming up with the term and breaking it down and really, everybody saying what works for them in terms of how they are writing.

Mazi: I think it is very, very important to have this conversation. Like I said, I wasn't confronted with African futurism but now I embrace it wholeheartedly, I talk about it every day and I mentioned -- like you said, it is important. And if we named this, people are going to stick with the name we give to them. I want to switch over to something rather different. -- difference where we have now and knew voices coming up.

Dilman: You broke up for one moment.

Mazi: My network is probably acting up. Talking about writers and their craft and stories that are coming up. I'm asking over the last few days, what kind of stories have you been seeing? Is there a particular theme you are seeing and stories?

Dilman: You broke off again, but I think I get the gist of the question. From around the time when ""Black Panther" came out, it kind of inspired people to think differently about Science Fiction and stuff like that from Africa. Before that, there was a lot of writing, but they were not called in their works Science Fiction or something like that. Since then there's been mostly superhero kind of things and mostly the comic world. A lot of people are trying to make comics. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them, they want to write very much like the mainstream comics, the Marvel comics and that kind of thing. I was in South Africa recently and I saw a comic and I thought let me pick this up and see what it is about. I was disappointed because he just turned out to be another superhero kind of story. In Uganda, we have a lot of people trying to create stuff, but it is more in imitation of the current superhero things. You find somebody writing a comic about children with superpowers and they are in a school, a professor who is in a wheelchair, and you can see very close similarities with what we are seeing in the world. Those who try to create the heroes are influenced by Hollywood films. And if you see the ones that have gone viral like the boys in Nigeria who use their phones to make sci-fi films, you can see a very strong tendency to try to make things for Hollywood. But among the writers, a lot of people have got courage to call their works Science Fiction. And I know people who have been writing mainstream literally once and they are now actively trying to write Science Fiction works. I've had conversations with them why they have made the switch, but it is something that is happening. One thing is that the markets, there is a lot more market perspective the fiction and there's a lot more people asking for stories of fantasy. You want your work to go out there. It might not pay all your bills, but you want one or two things. There is now a market for this speculative fiction. There is a lot of work, I think, to do for both. They might have been writing Science Fiction before they wrote literary fiction, but I see that happening a lot as well. I think once a week with me when I started out I started writing sci-fi. But at that time, there was barely a market for African Science Fiction stuff. I remember publishing my first horror stories in 2004 in very small online magazines. 2003, 2004. But other than those really small magazines, you couldn't get people who were actively looking for African Science Fiction stuff until after, I think, 2010, 2011 when people started taking a lot more attention, paying a lot more attention. That is when I started actively submitting to specular fiction magazines. I think maybe the writers have been having that bit of crisis, though they are much younger writers and they are just coming-of-age. They have room to start, speculative fiction writers. But there is that shift. I think Science Fiction is becoming more acceptable and much more relatable. A few people still call their works magical realism and things like that, but it is kind of a steady move. When they started publishing short stories that were sci-fi, that kind of gave other people courage to venture into these kinds of stories because before that, you know, literature and Africa is still very much based on Western trends. People look at Science Fiction stories and then take courage to write Science Fiction. That kind of has been what has been happening the last five years or so. The one thing, of course, with the people were coming from every village, every background, they are not trying to imitate the Hollywood stuff. And so we are seeing a lot of original stories coming out and really great stories. Though I think also, because a lot of people are trying to question their pasts and they are trying to reimagine futures and things like that, it is easier to do this writing within a spec that a fiction genre . One or two of them who approached me to read their works, I could see that in their stories because they were mostly Reading and Science Fiction but they wanted to write stories set in alternative worlds or secondary worlds because they are building things and trying to imagine what things would have been like. So that pushes them more into speculative fiction than literary fiction. It's a good thing, I think.

Mazi: Thank you. I think I agree with you. A couple of years ago, a blog is about the only place to publish speculative fiction of any kind. It probably wasn't the only one, but it probably was the easiest one. I remember I published my second story. That was an anthology I did a couple of years ago. That is the inequality of stories.

Stephen: What I have noticed, and funny and I'm going to reference Dilman's novella, and a lot of the work that has come out in the last two years has really dealt with themes of traditional belief in folktales. Somebody -- and I know Dilman has spoken about this, but something that a specific culture has, whether it is a folktale and they look at what that is, or extrapolated on that to create a story for themselves as a writer, a folktale kind of format. There's a few that I've noticed specifically, those cap -- those kinds of genres, if you want to call it. What we call those? Do we call them African folktales? Going into the story of people have grown up with his children and looking at those particularly in a modern context, how do those beliefs translate, how can they actually come through into our fictional work? Also, the other thing that -- also, what I'm looking at is how those stories, those narratives even from a historical point of view have been labeled as superstition. They don't call them necessarily superstition, stories that were told the children for specific reasons. They are not just entertainment, they are there for life lessons, for character building, for putting communities together. There is a lot that has been thrown it Africans as superstition. I think the work that is coming out is really treating those really as fiction, but in a real sense rather than the old school kind of look at the superstition beliefs and traditions.

Mazi: Thank you. There's a story, if I'm not mistaken, where she basically took what his old world, traditional storytelling and put it in the modern world. And it was about this widespread belief in the heart of Nigeria that the ancestors are always with you. The ancestors are always with you, they guide you. So she basically brought that to light again. And we have this tradition in Africa that you -- to your ancestors. And the ancestor responded and came. It was a beautiful story . People are sort of embracing these pasts, embracing these beliefs, and they are trying to make something beautiful in another context. It is almost like taking the past and building it into the present. I think that is what is happening. Is a very good thing I think the world should see. I think these writers should get more attention, a lot of young writers. And than female. We tend to get more female and male, but very good young writers.

Mame: If I may, I guess it fits. This magazine out of Malaysia released an issue a few years ago where they were focusing explicitly on folktales, reimagined in the modern space. And it was Troy Wiggins who won the Hugo award yesterday who was doing the editing for it. I had a story in there called "the contest of Farts." It was based on a full tail called "a Contest of Farts." It is an absolute riot, and it was four paragraph long and it is about this father who is weighing the contenders for his daughter's hand by who is going to drop the biggest, nastiest fart. And it is like four paragraphs long and set in Harlem, New York and it just ends up with an earthquake because that is how the kind of thing would end up anyway. And it was just a lot of fun, but it was also looking at some of the ways stories were told. Sometimes it is the message they are trying to articulate. And I thought that was a very -- that was an eye-opening experience. Just in case some people have missed that, I'm not sure if the call is still open, but was it UNESCO that just opened a call for films that reimagine African for tales? And they want explicitly filmmakers, I think it may be writers, two, filmmakers and writers who are specifically from the continent. That is a really good opportunity to get funding and a lot of visibility on that. But I agree entirely with everything that was said. Trying to strike that balance between the influence of what we see as modern-day Science Fiction which is Western versus where we come from culturally and bringing that together. But also in the way we write the stories, it is definitely key to the question of what is African speculative fiction?

Mazi: Thank you. I just jumped on the next segment. There was something you mentioned here and I think it is important to highlight that, and there is a lot of humor in the stories that I've seen from Africa. No matter how serious it is, you get a live humor, you get a laugh. People play with these themes and stuff. I think it is something that the world needs to pay attention to. It is made to be fun. You clapped, you sing, you dance. A lot of these young writers are also embracing that and putting that into their work. We are talking about writers, new writers. Who are these writers? This time we are going to look at a couple of writers you've seen over the last few years, the runs writing from the continent. I want to look at the people who are writing so that we can talk about them and maybe draw attention at this point. Can I go with you? What writers are out of Uganda, what writers are you seeing that you should take note of and what kind of work are they putting out? Carbo Culture OK Pete -- --

>> OK. Rose, I think -- she has written a couple of novels. Like, they are kind of self-published. One of them, she went on to win for not exactly speculative fiction, but somehow in the continent. I think she is one who you will probably have to look out for. The other one has been around for a while. I think you all know his works. I think he published him. Let me get the right spelling. Racheal Mutabingwa. I think she probably will go somewhere. And also, somebody who is little published but people keep asking. Doreen Muhanuzi. She is great and she has a written release some great science fiction short stories, but she was focusing more on writing a novel. But writing novels is a bit complicated, so maybe focus on short stories. She is worth recommending. She is published as of now. I ended up watching a TV series I'm producing Uganda and she is one of the writers. It is not speculative fiction. It is comedy stop and things like that. She is one of those published who I think this writing a series. It is almost set in an alternate timeline almost literally, but not set in this timeline, a secondary world kind of ink. There's all those belief systems and stuff, too.

Mazi: Thank you. I also want to use a portion of the time to look at the writers for the commendations. I'm hoping that we will get folks out there doing the same work and get more space for this writers to publish. I am going to come to you now. What writers have you seeing now ?

Mame: Besides what I'm reading it, it is the experience right now doing the editing very nice reversal of perspective because they get to talk to them about what motivates them to write and what they are trying to express. And so I get to see a process that I don't see in the cities -- stories that I'm reading. For them, it is pretty clear what it is we are trying to achieve. And there is this young author from Malian to send who is from Strasberg in France. She is going to be upcoming in not this one, but the next one. We got the story and at first we rejected it because it was a little bit all over the place in terms of the narrative. But damn, she had a voice. There was clearly something epic about the way she was writing and it is set in an alternate historical period within the Mandingo Empire in them calling her to talk about the story because I want to work with her on it to see what we can get. She picks up the phone and I'm like when a second, this girl isn't even 18 years old yet. Turns out she is 17 years old. This is one of her first forays into things and she is writing a story that looks at female characters within the empires of the time, but also the relationships based on caste systems and really tries to question some of the lesser-looked at aspects of African history. It is easy to try to address colonialism as an external evil. It is easy to try to look at transatlantic slavery. The more I've read recently on slavery as it was practiced in Senegal and some parts of the country, it looks almost an exact parallel except for some of the forms and the scale of it. But the possession of the person was there, the dehumanization, the removal of the name. NIC have a former slave caste is a class of domestic servants who still suffer from a lot of the same ostracization in society. And when it comes to Africa, we tend to like to remind people that the myth of the happy savage isn't true, but we also like to play that when it comes to our own issues and our own problems. We are very shy to say our societies were not perfect before white people came here. And trying to look at that to me was something that really spoke to me. Plus, she is 17 years old. She is talking to me about authors who I completely ignored in my curriculum because I was like, she sounds boring. She is telling me about them and I am like witty second, you actually read that person? That is what I like seeing. People who want a challenge -- to challenge some of the narratives even if it is a little painful to look at history and how it affects us today. But that is who I want to give a shout out to.

Mazi: Thank you. South Africa has a longer tradition of fiction than other parts of Africa. Most of the major writers that we know are within that part of the continent. Are their young raters upcoming from the continent?

Stephen: From South Africa in particular, not really that I can see. The writers that I have seen that have been published in other magazines, from my point of view, it has been very difficult to get any of my work published in South Africa. Most of my work has been published around the continent from Kenya to Nigeria. And I think that that is a major barrier in South Africa itself, is that it is very focused on literary works. There's not a lot of scope in terms of publishers for South African speculative fiction in any form. Some of us have to resort to self-publishing to get the work out or, like I say, putting it out to Omenana and what is obviously a huge beacon in Africa in terms of getting new writers out there, publishing some of us. In the last couple of years, I think the one that I'm keeping an eye on, Tlotlo Tsamaase, and Innocent Chizaram Ilo, all of us tied into the short story. Both of those authors, they've got imagination, they deal with fantasy as well as speculative. And then on the longer form, a really prolific writer. Eugen Bacon. In terms of how much she actually gets out there and just really her prose is really -- I feel intimidated when I read words that she puts on paper. The structure of the words that she uses and how she uses them. Those three. I think with all of them, with anybody that is breaking ground for themselves in short story, I always anticipate whatever they going to do with a novella or novel? And Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki. It would be nice for them to be able to get longer pieces published and find the time and the support to be able to actually take the time to spend a couple of years writing a novel because I think they will really be able to fly in terms of novel output.

Mazi: Thank you very much. I am always in all of people who put us first.

Mame: before you do, absolutely, Eugen Bacon. She is like Stephen King and her output. And she is just phenomenal in her prose. I think that guy deserves a nickname or some sort of anagram or acronym or something. When I finish reading the stories, I can't exactly tell you what they are about. I am just left in a place of absolute like "what the hell just happened to me?" And it is not so much a reading experience or a visual experience, it is like a full sensory experience. I don't know exactly how he does it, but between the tone, the writing, the subject matter, you are completely immersed into another reality and I find that absolutely phenomenal and I don't understand how he doesn't do more work as a published author.

Mazi: I just want to share a couple of writers. We got the story called "buddies" and I think she is somebody to look out for. I talked about a very, very humorous story. I don't know where he is from. He is somebody I really want to see his work again. Love the story, love the writing. I think at this moment we are in a very good place. We feel what the future is going to bring. It is not something a lot of us need to contend with because we have people who are coming out and they are actually doing the work and they are doing it well. So it is not like the early days when you get stuff and you wonder how am I going to study it? Where am I going to start from? I think it is an important time for us to use this time , so I am going to go with Stephen first.

Stephen: My next novel, Bones & Runes, is coming out on the 14th of February. It is young adult, new adult, 20-something characters exploring traditional beliefs within southern Africa and isiZulu, Khoekhoegowab languages – Hindu, all sorts. The three main characters, the main character's an isangoma in training, his friend Dan is a druid in training and their friend Amira is a Hindu warrior magician. I have had a lot of fun with that and I'm glad it is coming out. I will be launching that in the U.K.

Mazi: Thank you. Fast, fast, fast. Time is not on our side.

Mame: I actually have a story coming out tomorrow. I don't really write that many stories, it looks more at my black experience in the West, in France and putting that into a futuristic perspective. Largely because it is part of an experience that I've had to push back to the back of my head and outside of my consciousness just to function sometimes and it is interesting how 20 years later all of this comes back and unable to talk about it. So I am interested in seeing how people are going to respond. I've got a story coming out in an anthology next year. Actually, that story was rejected one time. I wrote it like six years ago and it is really nice to find a home today. It is climate fiction sort of, more science fantasy than anything else. Mythology is blended in. Finally, Africa risen is coming out with -- Senegal and possession in the traditional spirit is coming through to deal with all of that.

Mazi: Cool, thank you. You have less than a minute.

Dilman: I have a second collection coming up next year. I was hoping to have two books, but the publisher decided to put it all into one thing. Some of them are reprints. I am hoping to finish a novel for young adults as well, but I didn't get around to completing it quite. So that one collection is coming out.

Mazi: For me, I have a collection coming up next year, and that would be my first. It has been a long time coming. Thank you to the Panelists. Until next time. Bye-bye. I am trying to chop for time.

2021 WorldCon-DisConIII: PANEL TRANSCRIPT – Being African is Tougher Than You Think

Being African is Tougher Than You Think

Friday 17th December

Travel costs, visas, and payment methods, conversation rates not to mention failing electricity, high data costs and PayPal not always working for you.  Distinguished writers from the continent talk about the impact of practical problems—and if it’s any better when you move to the West.

Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki; Dilman Dila; Tlotlo Tsamaase; (unavailable: Lisa Yvette Ndlovu); Stephen Embleton

TRANSCRIPT:

OGHENECHOVWE: WELCOME TO THE "BEING AFRICAN IS TOUGHER THAN YOU THINK" PANEL. YOU CAN SWITCH ON YOUR SUBTITLES FOR THE PANELISTS. I WELCOME THE AUDIENCE. WE ARE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT THE CHALLENGES THAT AFRICANS FACE. THE PANELISTS ARE HERE AND THERE IS NO NEED FOR ME TO EXPLAIN OR TALK FOR EVERYBODY. I’M GOING TO BE INTRODUCING THE PANEL. WE HAVE STEPHEN EMBLETON AND DILMAN DILA. THEY ARE AFRICAN WRITERS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT. I WILL LET THEM INTRODUCE THEMSELVES.

TLOTLO: I’M AN AUTHOR THAT HAS WRITTEN AFRICAN ARTICLES, POETRY, AND SHORT STORIES. I HAVE HAD SOME SHORT STORIES APPEAR IN APEX MAGAZINE. THANK YOU.

OGHENECHOVWE: THANK YOU. STEPHEN?

STEPHEN: GREAT. ALSO, JUST WANT TO FORMALLY CONGRATULATE TLOTLO ON HER AWARD THAT WAS ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY. SO, CONGRATS TO HER. MY NAME IS STEPHEN EMBLETON. I’M USUALLY A GRAPHIC DESIGNER FILMMAKER, BUT I HAVE BEEN FOCUSING ON MY WRITING. I HAVE HAD TWO SHORT STORIES AS A NOMINATION IN THE NOMMO AWARDS. MY SECOND PUBLISHED TRANSCRIPT WAS ENTERED FOR A PRIZE. EVEN THOUGH I DIDN’T WIN, I HAVE BEEN GRANTED A SPEAKER ENGAGEMENT AT A WRITER’S WORKSHOP IN OXFORD NEXT YEAR.

OGHENECHOVWE: THANK YOU.

DILMAN: MY NAME IS DILMAN DILA. I’M A FILMMAKER AND WRITER. I HAVE HAD MOSTLY -- MOSTLY I WRITE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY STUFF. BUT I ALSO MAKE FILMS AND I DO GRAPHICS AND A LOT OF OTHER STUFF. IF THERE IS A MEDIUM FOR TELLING STORIES, I USUALLY TRY TO RUN IT THROUGH THAT MEDIUM.

OGHENECHOVWE: A SHORT STORY WRITER AND HAS A NOVEL AND BEEN INVOLVED IN SELF-PUBLISHED. WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT SPECULATIVE FICTION AND ITS MARKET. I ALSO WANT TO ADD WE ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE A FOURTH PERSON. YVETTE LISA NDLOVU. YOU GUYS KNOW HER. SHE WAS UNABLE TO MAKE IT BECAUSE SHE IS IN TRANSIT. SO, SHE WAS UNABLE TO JOIN US, WHICH IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE WILL TALK ABOUT. I WANT TO ADDITIONAL ADD BEFORE WE LAUNCH, THERE IS POSSIBLY GOING TO BE SOME NOISE FROM MY END IN THE BACKGROUND BECAUSE OF MY LOCATION AND EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, I MIGHT FREEZE OR MY NETWORK MIGHT GO OUT. IF THAT HAPPENS, YOU GUYS SHOULDN’T PANIC. JUST TRY TO CARRY ON THE CONVERSATION. THAT’S MY ENVIRONMENT AND CONNECTS WITH THE TOPIC AT HAND. SOME OF THOSE PROBLEMS MANIFEST THEMSELVES. YEAH, I’M TALKING TOO MUCH, SO WE WILL JUST DIVE IN NOW. THE FIRST THING THAT I WOULD LIKE TO ASK IS WHAT BEING AN AFRICAN MEANS TO EACH OF US. BEING AN AFRICAN MEANS DIFFERENT THINGS TO ALL OF US. DEPENDING ON YOUR LOCATION AND WHERE ON THE CONTINENT AND HOW YOU ARE AN AFRICAN IN TERMS OF DISSENT AND YOUR PASSPORT. BEING AN AFRICAN MEANS SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS. IT IS DIFFERENT FOR ALL OF US. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT BEING AFRICAN MEANS IN TERMS OF YOUR ART AND HOW IT HAS AFFECTED YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS.

TLOTLO: THANK YOU FOR ASKING. THAT’S AN INTERESTING QUESTION. BEING AN AFRICAN MEANS YOU WANT TO SEE YOURSELF EXISTING IN DIFFERENT AGES. MOST OF THE LITERATURE GROWING UP WAS MAINLY WESTERN LITERATURE AND WASN’T FILLED WITH PEOPLE WHO COME FROM OUR COUNTRY OR HAVE SIMILAR BACKGROUNDS OR CULTURE. THE THING ABOUT CREATING OR WRITING, AS AN AFRICAN AUTHOR, THERE ARE SO MANY OBSTACLES THAT DON’T MAKE IT EASY FOR YOU TO JUST FOCUS ON WRITING. LIVING IN GHANA, YOU CAN HAVE LITTLE TO NO INTERNET CONNECTION. AND EVEN IF YOU HAVE INTERNET CONNECTION, IT CAN BE SLOW. SAY YOU ARE WRITING A STORY AND RESEARCHING, IF THERE IS NO INTERNET, YOU CAN’T DO THE RESEARCH TO FINISH THE STORY. SO, ACTUALLY THE TIME FRAME TO FINISH A STORY TAKES MUCH LONGER. AND I REMEMBER WHEN I STARTED OUT, WHATEVER BANK WASN’T COMPATIBLE. THE CARD SYSTEMS WERE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH ACCEPTING MONEY FROM PAPAL AND YOU HAVE TO FIND SOMEONE THAT YOU CAN RELY ON. AND YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR THAT MONEY TO BE PUT IN YOUR ACCOUNT. YEAH, THOSE ARE ONE OF THE OBSTACLES THAT I FACED STARTING OUT.

OGHENECHOVWE: THANK YOU VERY MUCH. STEPHEN?

STEPHEN: WHEN I WAS IN MY LATE TEENS THAT’S WHEN WE WERE COMING OUT OF APARTHEID. AS I BEGAN WRITING PROPERLY IN THE EARLY 2000S, WHEN I SET OUT WRITING A NOVEL OR WRITING IN ANYWAY, A LOT OF THE BLOGS OR WRITING TIPS ALWAYS SAID WRITE FOR AN INTERNATIONAL MARKET AND SET YOUR STORIES IN AN INTERNATIONAL LOCATION LIKE NEW YORK OR LONDON AND YOU ARE GOING TO GET MORE TRACTION. IT WAS LIKE IT DIDN’T QUITE GEL WITH THE TYPE OF STORIES THAT I WANTED TO TELL AND THE TYPE OF STORIES THAT I HAVE BEEN TELLING. IT WAS THE SHORT STORY THAT REALLY PUSHED IT. MY FIRST SHORT STORIES WERE NOT EVEN PUBLISHED IN SOUTH AFRICA. KNOWING I COULD WRITE ABOUT PEOPLE WHO I HAVE GROWN UP AROUND, THEIR PERSPECTIVE AND THE LANGUAGE USED IN THE STORY WAS QUITE IMPORTANT. IT HAS BEEN AN INTERESTING PROCESS TO GET WHERE WE ARE NOW TO GET TO WorldCon, WHERE WE HAVE REPRESENTATION FOR AFRICAN SPEAKERS AND WE CAN TELL THE STORIES AND THE TRADITIONAL BELIEFS THAT WE WANT TO FEATURE, WITHOUT ANY FEAR OF SUCCESS IT MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT HAVE. IT IS GOING TO BE READABILITY WITHIN THE CONTINENT, AT LEAST, WHICH IS GOOD.

OGHENECHOVWE: THANK YOU VERY MUCH. BEFORE WE GO TO DILMAN, I NOTICED IN THE COMMENTS, YOU GUYS TALKED ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO WRITE ABOUT AFRICAN STORIES. AND WONDERING IF IT IS GOING TO FLY, IF IT IS GOING TO SELL. I’M GOING TO TRY TO REPHRASE IT IN A WAY THAT LOOKS AT THE HIGHLIGHTS. ARE YOU GUYS ESSENTIALLY SAYING FOR YOU, BEING AN AFRICAN WRITER, FOR A LARGE PART HAS INVOLVED NOT WRITING ABOUT AFRICA OR INVOLVED BEING TOLD THAT YOU CANNOT WRITE ABOUT AFRICA, ESSENTIALLY. WHICH CONNECTS WITH THE HISTORY OF COLONIALISM. IT SEEMS LIKE IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS DEEPLY ENTRENCHED IN OUR EXPERIENCES AND WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT WE CAN’T WRITE THIS OR IT IS NOT INTERESTING OR WON’T SELL. YEAH, IT LOOKS TO ME LIKE SOME OF THAT MIGHT BE TRUE. I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM DILMAN. WHAT ABOUT YOU?

DILMAN: WE HAD OUR SURGEON WAYS OF TELLING STORIES WHICH DID NOT INVOLVE WRITING BOOKS OR MAKING FILMS OR STUFF LIKE THAT BECAUSE AUTHORSHIP WAS PEGGED TO SOME KIND OF -- SO YOU MAKE A SONG, IT IS ABOUT THE COMMUNITY. AND IT BECOMES A COMMUNAL SONG. BETWEEN THE 19 HUNDREDS AND THE 19 FIFTIES, AND WITH SHAKESPEARE HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO AND THEY START THINKING ABOUT PRESERVING THEIR OWN STORIES. EVEN IN FILMS AND A LOT OF ARTWORK THERE IS THAT EMPHASIS, RATHER THAN ON THE STORYTELLING. EVEN AFTER TODAY, YOU LOOK AT MANY BOOKS AND IT IS ABOUT LEGOS. AND THE BOOK CAPTURES THE LIFE OF LEGOS AND STUFF LIKE THAT. I WANT TO READ ABOUT THE CHARACTER. I DON’T WANT TO READ ABOUT LEGOS. SO, A LOT OF STORIES THAT HAVE BEEN TOLD CONFORM TO THESE NORMS.

OGHENECHOVWE: HOLD ON. LET ME QUESTION SOMETHING THAT YOU SAID THERE. YOU TALKED ABOUT AFRICAN WORKS NOT GETTING ATTENTION BECAUSE OF THE MODEL. THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT WE HAD OUR OWN FORM OF STORYTELLING, YOU KNOW, BACK IN THE DAY. THE WORLD HAS CHANGED AND A LOT OF THESE SYSTEMS HAVE CHANGED. WE ARE GOING TO EVOLVE WITH THOSE CHANGES. BUT I WOULD STILL LIKE TO KNOW, THE ORIGINAL QUESTION WAS WHAT BEING AN AFRICAN CREATIVE MEANS TO YOU AND HOW THAT HAS AFFECTED YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS?

DILMAN: I THINK THAT’S KIND OF WHAT I WAS REALLY EXPLAINING. YOU STRUGGLE WITH ALL THESE IDENTITIES. IT’S A SONG, IT’S A FILM, BUT IT IS ALL SET IN THE SAME UNIVERSE. THAT HAS BEEN TAKEN AWAY FROM US ALL THESE YEARS AND SOMEONE ELSE IS DEFINING WHAT WE SHOULD DO, THINK, AND CONFORMING TO. AT SOME POINT YOU HAVE TO FIGHT BACK AND DO THINGS THE WAY YOU WANT. AND AGAIN, I REPEAT THAT I’M NOT SAYING YEAH, WE ONLY HAVE FILMS AND BOOKS THAT ARE AFRICAN. THAT’S SILLY. IT IS ABOUT FINDING POINTS OF VIEW ABOUT THE WORLD. AND POINTS OF VIEW ABOUT HOW STORYTELLING WORKS. THAT WE CAN CHAMPION. IF I CAN TELL A STORY AND THEN, EVERYBODY ELSE HAS SOME KIND OF FREEDOM TO TELL THEIR STORY IN A WAY, YOU KNOW. YEAH? IT IS KIND OF ALSO SPECULATING AND TRYING TO COME UP WITH AN ALTERNATIVE WAY OF LOOKING AT LIFE AND LOOKING AT WHAT WE THINK IS STORYTELLING. YEAH, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

OGHENECHOVWE: OKAY. OKAY. YOU HAVE A MUCH BROADER LOOK AT THE QUESTION. I THINK THAT YOU WENT BACK TO OUR ROOTS AND AFRICAN STORYTELLING AND I WAS THINKING MORE OF A MODERN SYSTEM OF COMMERCIALIZING AND SELLING YOUR STORIES IN YOU KNOW, MAGAZINES AND PODCASTS. THAT WAS VERY BROAD.

DILMAN: YES, DONALD. I THINK THAT SOME PEOPLE DON’T STRUGGLE WITH THIS KIND OF THING. I STRUGGLED WITH CHRISTIANITY FOR A LONG TIME UNTIL I GAVE UP ON CHRISTIANITY. I’M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD FROM THE VIEW OF OUR FOREFATHERS AND HOW IS THAT RELEVANT TO US? I WILL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE. YOU IMAGINE IT BEING INCORPORATED INTO TODAY’S WORLD. THEY ARE NOT CENTRALIZED. THERE IS NO CENTRAL RULER.

TLOTLO: PEOPLE LIVING IN SOUTH AFTER TRY CAN AND HAVING THIS IDEA. AND THEY DON’T KNOW THAT. THEY DON’T KNOW THE EXPERIENCES THAT WE GO THROUGH IN OUR COUNTRY. SO, BEING ABLE TO WRITE OUR LIVES AND CHANGE THAT WAY THAT SHOWS SOMETHING THAT IS MUCH MORE TRUTHFUL. AND THEN, IT IS LIKE THE MORE THAT YOU TRY TO DO THAT, THE MORE THEY SEE IT AS A PROBLEM BECAUSE IT MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO BREAK INTO THE INDUSTRY. YOU CAN WRITE A BOOK ABOUT AFRICAN POETRY OR HISTORY AND THE COMMENT THAT YOU GET IS THAT IT IS MUCH TOO AFRICAN. AND SO, YOU TRY AND FIND A BALANCE OF TRYING TO MAKE IT IN THE MIDDLE WHERE IT IS NOT TOO AFRICAN. AND IF YOU WRITE A STORY THAT DEPICTS YOUR LIFE, THEY CAN TELL YOU THAT THE STORY IS NOT AFRICAN ENOUGH. AND IT IS LIKE, HOW DO YOU KNOW BECAUSE YOU DON’T EXPERIENCE WHAT WE EXPERIENCE. YOU DON’T GO THROUGH EVERYTHING THAT WE GO THROUGH IN OUR COUNTRY. YEAH, THAT’S ONE OF THE BARRIERS.

OGHENECHOVWE: OKAY. YES, STEPHEN?

STEPHEN: YEAH, I THINK WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SPECULATIVE WORK THAT HAS COME OUT IN THE LAST TEN YEARS, AFRICAN SPECULATIVE, AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED, OUR IDENTITY IS IN THE WRITING. IT IS NOT TRYING TO BE AFRICAN OR NOT AFRICAN. WE ARE WRITING STORIES THAT WE WANT TO TELL. FROM THE LAY OF THE LAND WHEN I LOOK AT IT 10 OR 20 YEARS IN TERMS OF SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLISHING, IT WAS ALMOST LIKE YOU HAD TO WRITE A POLITICAL NOVEL OR WORK FOR IT TO BE PUBLISHED. I’M NOT AGAINST THAT AND THOSE STORIES NEED TO BE TOLD. THOSE IDENTITIES COME OUT THROUGH THE CHARACTERS THAT YOU CHOOSE. I THINK WHEN WE’VE GOT THE READERSHIP THAT WE HAVE ON THE CONTINENT OF OUR WORK, THERE’S THAT DESIRE TO SEE STORIES AND NOT TO SEE A POLITICAL MESSAGE NECESSARILY. YOU CAN HAVE THAT, BUT THERE ARE ALL OF THESE OTHER THEMES AND STORIES THAT WE WANT TO TELL. THE OTHER THING THAT COMES THROUGH IS THAT A STORY CAN HAVE A RANGE OF GENRES MIXED IN ONE.

OGHENECHOVWE: YEAH, YOU SAY SOMETHING INTERESTING AND THAT THE STORIES CAN BE MIXED. IF YOUR STORY IS INTERROGATING POLITICS, THAT’S WHAT IT IS DOING.

OGHENECHOVWE: I THINK YOU ARE ASKING IF IT IS NECESSARY TO HAVE THIS KIND OF COMPOSITION?

STEPHEN: YEAH.

OGHENECHOVWE: I THINK THERE IS STILL A LOT OF TRAUMA STUFF THAT YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH AND YOU HAVE TO KEEP QUESTIONING YOURSELF.

OGHENECHOVWE: HAS A KNOWN SCIENCE FICTION ANTHOLOGY COMING OUT NEXT YEAR. SO, THERE IS THAT. I MENTIONED THEM IN MY ESSAY. YOU GUYS CAN CHIP IN, AS WELL. STEPHEN EMBLETON IS BRINGING BACK THE AFRICAN WRITER SERIES. HE’S AN EDITOR AND ALSO THIS FELLOWSHIP. YOU ARE HERE, SO WE CAN HEAR FROM HIM.

STEPHEN: SO, I THINK THAT ONE OF THE KEY OBJECTIVES WITH THE RELAUNCH OF THE AFRICAN WRITER SERIES IS THE WORKS IN AFRICAN LANGUAGES. AND I DON’T MEAN JUST WHAT WAS DONE IN THE PAST. WHERE WE HAVE TAKEN WHAT WAS TRANSLATING INTO ENGLISH. FOR EXAMPLE, IF AN AUTHOR HAS A WORK THAT IS WRITTEN IN THAT LANGUAGE, FINDING THE RIGHT PUBLISHER AND TRANSLATED LANGUAGES, AS WELL AS DOING AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION. SO, IT IS LOOKING AT THAT AND THEN, THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION AS AN ADD-ON. IT IS ABOUT GIVING THE AFRICAN AUTHORS THE PLATFORM A WIDER AUDIENCE THAT WOULDN’T NECESSARILY KNOW ABOUT THEM. WHEREAS, IF I DID IT IN MY NA NATIVE LANGUAGE, WHICH IS ENGLISH, IT IS GOING TO BE A MUCH EASIER PROCESS. IT IS ABOUT GETTING THOSE WORKS AND FINDING THE MARKETS. THERE ARE ALL SORTS OF BARRIERS. A LOT OF US HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE AFRICAN PUBLISHING COMMUNITY, SO WE KNOW THE HURDLES INVOLVED IN PUBLISHING ACROSS THE CONTINENT. ALL OF THOSE KIND OF BARRIERS THAT WE HAVE TO LOOK AT. I’M HOPING THAT THE AWS IS GOING TO HAVE SOME CLOUT TO PUSH THAT FURTHER AND ESPECIALLY, THOSE SMALLER PRESSES TO GET THE WORK OUT THERE.

DILMAN: HE’S GONE OFF. SO, DONALD IS BACK. OVER TO YOU.

OGHENECHOVWE: YEAH, THANKS. WE HAVE JUST A FEW MINUTES LEFT. SO, I’M GOING TO LET YOU GUYS GO WITH A FEW CLOSING REMARKS.

TLOTLO: I JUST WENT THROUGH ABOUT WHAT DILMAN WAS SAYING BECAUSE IT IS ALSO THE SAME THING BACK HERE. MY WORK IS INFLUENCED FROM THE STORIES THAT I HOLD FROM MY GRAND PARENTS AND PARENTS. IT IS LIKE I’M ALWAYS SEARCHING FOR THE PAST OF OUR STORIES. THERE IS NO IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO THESE STORIES IN OUR COUNTRY. SO, THE ONLY WAY THAT YOU CAN ACTUALLY HEAR THEM IS FROM OUR ANCESTORS AND THAT’S SOMETHING THAT I’M ALWAYS TRYING TO PRESERVE IN MY WORK. HEARING FROM THE OTHER AUTHORS AND THE EXPERIENCES THEY HAVE, IT FEELS LESS [INAUDIBLE] WHEN WE ARE ACTUALLY ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THIS. SO, THANK YOU.

OGHENECHOVWE: WHAT ABOUT YOU, STEPHEN?

STEPHEN: JUST TO REITERATE WHAT TLOTLO JUST SAID. HAVING THESE DISCUSSIONS, AND I KNOW THAT WE HAVE A LOT OF DISCUSSIONS IN THE AFRICAN SPECULATIVE SOCIETY AND ON THE FACEBOOK PAGE. THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE GENERALLY TALK AMONGST OURSELVES, SO IT IS INTERESTING TO GET IT OUT THERE FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO HEAR ABOUT. LOOKING AT THE PERSPECTIVES THAT WE HAVE, AS WRITERS, CHALLENGING WRITING STRUCTURES AND NARRATIVE STRUCTURES AND THE REALLY FORMAL WESTERNIZED WAYS TO WRITING.

OGHENECHOVWE: I WILL CHIP IN BY SAYING I THINK THAT THIS CONVERSATION IS IMPORTANT. THERE IS A CHALLENGE IN THE MODERN COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS OF STORYTELLING, THERE HAS BEEN A GAP. THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE PAYING ATTENTION TO AFRICAN STORYTELLING AND SCIENCE FICTION. THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE BUYING AND INTERACTIVE WITH OUR WORKS AND MORE OUTLETS BEING INVOLVED IN THIS PRODUCTION. I THINK THAT IS A LOT DUE TO THE ACTIVITY AND THE DISCUSSIONS. YEAH, I WILL JUST CONCLUDE WITH THAT. I THINK THAT WE ARE OUT OF OUR TIME. DILMAN?

>> YOU STILL HAVE FIVE MINUTES.

OGHENECHOVWE: OKAY, FINE.

STEPHEN: TLOTLO, TELL THE AUDIENCE ABOUT THE AWARD-WINNING STORY.

TLOTLO: THE STORY THAT WON THE NOMMO AWARD FOR BEST SHORT STORY, I WAS TOLD TO SUBMIT A STORY. I REMEMBER AT THE TIME I DIDN’T HAVE ANY IDEAS AND WE HAD A DISCUSSION AND I TOLD HIM I WAS INTERESTED IN WRITING ABOUT THE WORK ETHICS IN OUR COUNTRY AND THAT ARE AFRICAN AND VERY C CORRUPTIVE AND IMPOSED CERTAIN THINGS ON THE WORKERS THAT ARE VERY ABUSIVE. I WANTED TO HAVE A DYSTOPIAN SCI-FI ASPECT TO IT. ONE THING THAT I FOUND WITH THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY, THEY ARE VERY INTERESTED IN AFRICAN STORIES. SOMETIME DURING THE LOCKDOWN AND DURING 2020, THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO WERE ACTUALLY EXPOSING SOME PUBLISHING COMPANIES FOR ABUSING MARGINALIZED AUTHORS AND USING THEIR STORIES FOR PROFIT. SO, SOMETIMES THE ESTABLISHMENTS WANT TO USE AFRICAN AUTHORS RATHER THAN ACTUALLY [INAUDIBLE] AND SO, THAT’S HOW I CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA OF THE SYSTEM THAT INSTALLS AFRICAN PEOPLE WITH A CHIP AND THEY CAN BE AN AWARD-WINNING ESTABLISHMENT IN THE CONTINENT. THAT’S BASICALLY WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT. AND HOW THE PEOPLE WHO GET TRAPPED IN THIS BECAUSE THEY ARE DESPERATE FOR MONEY TO LIVE.

OGHENECHOVWE: DILMAN, YOU ARE NEXT.

DILMAN: I WAS RESPONDING TO SOME QUESTIONS ON THE CHAT. I LOST TRAIN OF WHAT SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT. THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT THE TENDENCY TO ROMANTICISE THE PAST. WE HAVE 1 MINUTE TO GO.

OGHENECHOVWE: I THINK THAT DOING THAT WOULD BE DISHONEST. I THINK THAT OUR TIME IS UP. THANKS EVERYBODY FOR SHOWING UP. THANK YOU FOR TUNING IN.

>> THANK YOU.

>> BYE.

2021 WorldCon-DisConIII: PANEL TRANSCRIPT – The Nommo and Other Awards for African SFF

The Nommo and Other Awards for African SFF

Thursday 16th December

This panel will discuss the Nommo Award and other awards and contests that create visibility for speculative fiction writers on the African continent.

Mame Bougouma Diene; Dilman Dila; Stephen Embleton; Mazi Nwonwu

TRANSCRIPT:

DILMAN DILA: WELCOME TO THIS PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE NOMMO AWARDS AND OTHER AWARDS DEDICATED TO AFRICAN WRITING AND IN PARTICULAR, AFRICAN SPECULATIVE FICTION WRITING. MY NAME IS DILMAN DILA. I WILL BE THE MODERATOR FOR TONIGHT. IT’S MORNING IN OTHER PLACES, BUT I’LL BE THE MODERATOR THIS TIME ROUND. I MAYBE WILL START WITH A BRIEF BIO ABOUT MYSELF. MOSTLY I’M A WRITER AND I’M A FILMMAKER AND I’VE BEEN RECOGNIZED IN QUITE A FEW AWARDS. I DON’T THINK I’VE WON ANY LITERARY AWARD AS YET, BUT FROM WAY BACK, 2008 IS WHEN I GOT NOMINATED FOR SOME AWARD, IT WAS CALLED THE MILLION WRITER AWARDS AND UNTIL THIS YEAR WHEN I WAS SHORT-LISTED FOR THE BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARDS. SO IN BRIEF, THAT IS ME. I’VE WON MOSTLY THE FILM-RELATED AWARDS, BUT NOT IN FICTION OR IN WRITING. I WILL PROBABLY LET THE OTHER PANELISTS INTRODUCE THEMSELVES BRIEFLY AND TELL US ABOUT THE KIND OF RECOGNITIONS THEY’VE GOT BEFORE WE KICK INTO THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE AWARDS.

MAZI NWONWU: OKAY LET ME GO FIRST. MY NAME IS MAZI NWONWU. I WRITE SCIENCE FICTION FANTASY. I’M ALSO A JOURNALIST. I WORK WITH BBC LANGUAGE SERVICE IN NIGERIA. I’M ALSO THE COFOUNDER OF A SPECULATIVE FICTION MAGAZINE THAT IS DEDICATED TO WRITERS FROM AFRICA AND THE AFRICAN DIASPORA. I’VE BEEN NOMINATED FOR A COUPLE OF AWARDS, BUT AS OF YET, I’VE NOT WON ANY. I’M MORE PROUD TO SEE THAT I’VE PUBLISHED A BOOK AND A COUPLE OF OTHER PLATFORMS, I’VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY. SO THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

STEPHEN EMBLETON: OKAY I’LL GO NEXT. SO MY NAME IS STEPHEN EMBLETON. MY BACKGROUND, SIMILAR TO DILMAN, ALTHOUGH I HAVE GRAPHIC DESIGN. ALSO FILMMAKING BACKGROUND, MAINLY IN DOCUMENTARY AND SHORT-FORM DOCUMENTARY. ALSO, I’VE WON AWARDS IN THE DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING SECTOR. BEEN ACTIVELY WRITING FICTION SINCE 2006, WHEN I STARTED MY SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL SOUL SEARCHING, WHICH IS ONE OF THE FINALISTS FOR THE NOMMO’S THIS EVENING. AND I’VE HAD TWO SHORT STORIES ALSO NOMINATED IN THE NOMMOS WHICH HAS BEEN GOOD, WE’LL GET TO THAT KIND OF DISCUSSION SHORTLY. AND SO ON THE NOVEL SIDE, MY SECOND NOVEL BONES AND RUINS WAS A FINALIST IN THE JAMES CURREY PRIZE IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS YEAR. AND THEN I WAS AWARDED THE JAMES CURREY FELLOW AT OXFORD WHICH BEGINS IN JANUARY. AND THE POINT OF THAT IS RELAUNCHING THE AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES, WHICH IS QUITE A LARGE THING TO UNDERTAKE, BUT VERY EXCITING AND YEAH. LOOKS TO BE QUITE FUN.

MAME BOUGOMA: I’M MAME BOUGOMA, I WRITE MOSTLY HORROR AND DARK FANTASY. I’M ALSO A COLUMNIST AT STRANGE HORIZONS AND VERY RECENTLY, FRANCOPHONE EDITOR, TRYING TO GIVE A BOOST THERE. SAME AS EVERYBODY HERE, I HAVEN’T WON AN AWARD YET. I WAS SHORTLISTED FOR THE NOMMO’S TWICE AND FOR BRIAN KEEN’S AND JAMES WHITE’S SPLATTER PUNK AWARD FOR EXTREME HORROR AND SPLATTER PUNK IN 2019 FOR MY COLLECTION, DARK MOON RISING ON A STARLESS NIGHT AND BEST NOVELA FOR FISTULAS. THAT’S ME IN SHORT.

DILMAN DILA: THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT. I WILL PROBABLY START WITH A QUESTION AND ALSO MAYBE AN ANECDOTE ABOUT THE PAST -- NOMINATED FOR. IT’S FOR FICTION THAT IS PUBLISHED ONLINE. SO THE FIRST QUESTION WILL BE AWARDS. ARE THEY REALLY WORTH IT? DO THEY DO ANYTHING TO BOOST A WRITER’S CAREER? ARE THEY REALLY JUST TO BOOST THE WRITER’S EGO? MY FIRST AWARD, LIKE 2008, AT THAT TIME, I HAD BEEN WRITING FOR A LONG TIME, AND THEN I WAS NOT NOTICING ANY HEADWAY. AT THAT TIME, AFRICA, YOU KNOW, THE PUBLISHING WAS STILL VERY TRADITIONAL AND P BY THAT I MEAN, THEY FOCUSED MORE ON STORIES THAT WERE NOT SPECULATIVE IN NATURE. AND I REMEMBER I WAS MOVING INTO FILMMAKING AT THAT POINT, AND I THINK AT THAT POINT I THOUGHT, I’M GOING TO STOP WRITING. SO FOR ABOUT ONE OR TWO YEARS, I WAS HEAVILY INVESTED IN FILMMAKING AND PRODUCING FILMS. I PRODUCED MY FIRST PROFESSIONAL FILM IN 2007. I THINK THE FILM IS SOMEWHERE ONLINE, ON YouTube. AND IT HAD A REALLY GREAT RECEPTION THAT I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO BE A FILMMAKER FROM THAT POINT ON. BUT SURPRISINGLY IN 2008, I GOT AN E-MAIL TELLING ME I HAD BEEN NOMINATED FOR THE MILLION WRITERS AWARDS. I THINK IT’S AN AWARD FOR SHORT STORY WRITING THAT IS ONLINE, AND I THINK EDITORS KIND OF NOMINATE WHAT THEY THINK IS WORTH IT IN ONLINE WRITING OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. AND I REMEMBER AT THAT POINT IT MADE ME THINK TWICE ABOUT THIS POSITION, NOT TO PURSUE WRITING ANYMORE, AND HERE I WAS NOW THINKING WOW, SOMEBODY ACTUALLY THINKS MY WRITING IS WORTH SOMETHING, AND I DIDN’T COMPLETELY GIVE UP ON WRITING AT THAT POINT. I KNOW IT’S REALLY A VERY SMALL AWARD AND PROBABLY NOBODY HAS EVER HEARD OF IT, BUT THERE’S JUST THAT THING THAT, YOU KNOW, I DON’T KNOW. JUST LIKE YOU BEING PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME, YOU KNOW. THE WAY YOU FEEL, YOU FIND YOUR NAME IN PRINT, YOU HOLD YOUR FIRST BOOK AND YOU FEEL HMM, I AM SOMEBODY, I’VE WRITTEN SOMETHING WORTH IT.

SO THAT IS REALLY THE QUESTION: WHAT DO AWARDS REALLY DO? DO THEY REALLY ADVANCE WRITERS’ CAREER OR ARE THEY JUST THERE TO SOOTHE THE EGOS? OF COURSE, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE BIG AWARDS LIKE HUGOS AND STUFF LIKE THAT, THEY DO HAVE AN IMPACT ON CAREER, BUT WE HAVE REALLY A PLETHORA OF AWARDS. EVERY OTHER MONTH I SEE SOMEBODY BEING NOMINATED FOR SOMETHING. ANYBODY WANTS TO GO FIRST WITH PERSPECTIVE ON THAT?

MAZI NWONWU: I THINK THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF WRITERS. THERE ARE WRITERS WHO WRITE TO WIN AWARDS AND THERE ARE WRITERS WHO FEEL I AM NOT GOING TO GO ALL-OUT TO GET THIS AWARD, BUT IF IT COMES, GOOD. SO I THINK FOR EVERY WRITER, EVERYBODY WANTS TO WRITE FOR AWARDS AND SAY OKAY, I GUESS IT COULD, EVERYBODY IS HAPPY TO WIN AN AWARD. EVERYBODY IS HAPPY. AND DO AWARDS MAKE WRITERS BETTER? I WOULDN’T SAY YES TO THAT, BUT I THINK IT GIVES WRITERS A GOOD FEELING THAT YEAH, MY WORK IS RECEIVED NICE. ESPECIALLY IF IT’S AN AWARD YOU GET, WHERE YOU DON’T HAVE TO CANVASS FOR VOTES. THOSE ONES, I DON’T THINK IT’S GOING TO MAKE ANYBODY FEEL LIKE -- MAYBE THEY COULD STILL FEEL LIKE YEAH, MY WORK IS GOOD FOR ME, BUT YES, I THINK AWARDS DO HELP THE WRITER IN TERMS OF WE TALK ABOUT THE EGO, BUT ALSO IN TERMS OF STABILITY, WHICH IS A VERY, VERY HUGE THING. BEFORE NOMMO AWARDS, IT WAS A STRUGGLE FOR WRITERS OF SPECULATIVE FICTION IN AFRICA TO GET RECOGNITION THAT THEY DESERVE OR THAT THEY DESIRE, BECAUSE THE MAINSTREAM AWARDS WEREN’T NECESSARILY PAYING MUCH ATTENTION TO SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY AND ALL OF THAT KIND OF GENRES. I SAY THIS ALL THE TIME. WE ARE SO KEEN ON FICTION, NO -- IT HAS CHANGED NOW. I MENTIONED A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO WE HAD A TIME WHEN -- (AUDIO MUFFLED, CUTTING IN AND OUT) -- SPECULATIVE FICTION, BUT THAT WAS -- THE NOMMO BEING INTERNATIONAL, BEING AFRICAN, IS A VERY, VERY GOOD PLATFORM FOR THE AFRICAN WRITER. EVERY WRITER I KNOW WHO HAS BEEN NOMINATED FOR THE NOMMO IS ACTUALLY DOING WAY BETTER THAN BEFORE THEY WERE NOMINATED. SAME, TOO, WITH THE KING PRIZE. IN NIGERIA, IT’S THE ALMIGHTY OF PRIZES. PEOPLE REGARD IT BIGGER THAN THE NIGERIAN LITERATURE NLNG PRIZE FOR LITERATURE THAT COMES WITH A PRIZE OF $100,000. PEOPLE STILL REGARD THE KING PRIZE, WHICH DOESN’T EVEN HAVE A PRIZE LIKE THAT, MORE THAN THAT, BECAUSE IT’S INTERNATIONAL, IT PUTS YOUR NAME OUT THERE IN WAYS THAT THE NLNG IS NOT GOING TO. SO I THINK THAT’S ONE KEY BENEFIT OF AWARDS. IT GETS YOUR NAME OUT THERE. MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE WRITING FROM YOUR COUNTRY OR FROM YOUR CONTENT, YOUR NAME IS THE ONE THAT HAS BEEN MENTIONED THAT HAS WON THIS AWARD. PEOPLE KNOW TO LOOK FOR YOU. IT’S EASY TO FIND YOU, IT’S EASY TO REMEMBER YOUR NAME BECAUSE THEY CAN ATTACH THAT AWARD TO YOUR NAME. AND IT’S ALSO LIKE A SYMBOL OF, I USE THE WORD -- I’M LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT WORD TO USE, NOT A SYMBOL OF SUCCESS, BUT A SYMBOL OF TALENT. IF HE OR SHE COULD WIN THIS AWARD, IT MEANS THEY WERE WORTH AWARDING IT TO. THAT’S WHAT I THINK ABOUT AWARDS. THEY DO HAVE A USE.

DILMAN DILA: BEFORE YOU GO, MAYBE JUST YOUR PERSONAL THING. WHAT AWARDS HAVE YOU, AS A PERSON WON?

MAZI NWONWU: I’M ONE OF THOSE WHO DON’T GO OUT LOOKING FOR AWARDS. I’M KIND OF -- I’M KIND OF VERY, VERY UNSURE OF THE WORK I PUT OUT. AND I ALSO FEEL IF I STRUGGLED THIS HARD TO WRITE THIS STORY, I SHOULD NOT BE THE ONE ASKING FOR AWARDS FOR IT. IF IT GETS NOTICED, FINE. THAT’S MY OWN PERSONAL VIEW. I DON’T GO OUT LOOKING FOR AWARDS. I DON’T THINK I’VE EVER SAID I WANT THIS WORK TO BE FOR THIS AWARD, EXCEPT BY CHANCE SOMEBODY NOMINATED, AND I’M LIKE OKAY, LET’S SEE HOW IT DOES. SO THAT’S MY VIEW ABOUT AWARDS. I’M NOT CRAZY ABOUT IT, BUT I KNOW IT’S -- MAYBE PAUSE I’M ALSO -- WRITING IS NOT A MAJOR -- THAT’S JUST -- IT MAY BE IF LITERATURE WAS THE ONLY THING I DO, MAYBE I WOULD BE MORE FOCUSED ON GETTING AWARDS, I WOULD KNOW THAT IF I GET AN AWARD, I CAN GET AHEAD FASTER. SO THAT’S MY VIEW ON IT.

MAME BOUGOMA: UNLESS THERE’S SOMETHING YOU WANT TO SAY, DILMAN?

DILMAN DILA: GO AHEAD.

MAME BOUGOMA: THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY AND THIS IS A REALLY TIMELY CONVERSATION. THE FUNNY THING FOR ME, JUST TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, DO AWARDS DO ANYTHING FOR YOU? I THINK THE BIGGEST SURPRISE WAS WHEN I WAS NOMINATED FOR THE SPLATTER PUNK IN 2019. I FOUND OUT ABOUT IT, I WAS IN THE CAFETERIA AT WORK GETTING SOME ICED TEA, AND THEN I FIND OUT ON TWITTER THROUGH THE EDITOR’S TWEET THAT I’M NOMINATED FOR THE SPLATTER PUNK. AND I HAD NO IDEA WHAT THE SPLATTER PUNK WAS, OR THAT I WAS EVEN CONSIDERED FOR A NOMINATION OR ANYTHING, AND I ALMOST DROPPED THE ICED TEA AND WENT STRAIGHT TO MY COMPUTER TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT IT, JUST BECAUSE THE SHOCK OF THE THING. AND ALSO BEING IT’S JUST SO OUT OF LEFT FIELD FROM WHAT I CONSIDERED MYSELF AS AN AUTHOR. I AGREE I READ A LOT OF HORROR, BUT I DIDN’T THINK I WOULD BE NOMINATED FOR ANYTHING CALLED SPLATTER PUNK IN MY LIFE. SO THAT WAS INTERESTING. AND THEN I FOUND OUT MORE ABOUT BRIAN, I KNEW WHO BRIAN KEEN WAS, I REALIZED HE WAS BEHIND IT, AND JAMES WHITE WHO IS ALSO EXCELLENT. THAT WAS REALLY INTERESTING TO SEE THAT MY WORK WAS GETTING SOME RECOGNITION OUTSIDE OF A BUBBLE OF AFRICAN LITERATURE. LIKE ALL OF A SUDDEN, IT WASN’T, YOU KNOW, OKAY SO AFRICAN AWARD, I’M NOT TRYING TO DENIGRATE THE AFRICAN AWARD BUT THE WAY AS AFRICAN AUTHORS WE ARE POSITIONED IN THIS LARGELY WESTERN SETTING OF PUBLISHING IS THAT WE’RE ALWAYS THE NEW THING OR UPCOMING THING. IT CREATES A BUBBLE. IT WAS INTERESTING TO SEE OUTSIDE THAT BUBBLE THAT THE WORK COULD GET RECOGNITION. AND THEN THE EFFECT WAS ACTUALLY IMMEDIATE. I WENT FROM, LIKE, $5 OF ROYALTIES TO $25. FINANCIALLY, IT’S NOTHING, BUT STATISTICALLY IT IS PRETTY SIGNIFICANT. SO THERE’S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET YOUR NAME OUT THERE. BUT WHAT I DO THINK IS, YOU KNOW, IT’S REALLY A MATTER OF SPACE VERSUS JUST THE FACT OF AN AWARD IN AND OF ITSELF, LIKE YOU WERE SAYING AND LIKE MAZI WAS SAYING, YOU GET THE HUGO’S, THE NEBULAS. IF YOU’RE NOMINATED FOR ONE OF THOSE, YOU ARE GOING TO GET MORE RECOGNITION. NOW, WHEN YOU’RE NOMINATED FOR A NOMMO, YOU’RE STARTING TO GET THAT RECOGNITION, BUT THAT’S ALSO BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THERE’S ALSO THE AFRICAN SPECULATIVE FICTION SOCIETY BEHIND IT THAT CONNECTS THE CONTINENTS TOGETHER. SOME OF US HAVE ACHIEVED ENOUGH SUCCESS THAT THERE’S ATTENTION DRAWN TO IT FROM SPACES THAT WE PROBABLY WOULDN’T GET ANY KIND OF PLAY OTHERWISE BECAUSE IT WOULD BE TOO SMALL OR THERE WOULDN’T BE A BIG NAME ATTACHED TO IT BECAUSE THERE’S A NUMBER OF OTHER AWARDS, OTHER CONTINENTS, I THINK SHORT STORY DAY STILL DELIVERS AN AWARD EVERY YEAR, AND THEY DO REALLY GREAT WORK. THEY DO REALLY GREAT WORK. THE STORIES ARE AMAZING, THE ANTHOLOGIES THEY PUT OUT ARE AMAZING. BUT, YOU KNOW, THE STEP MOVING TOPROMOTE THOSE SOCIETY IN THOSE SPACES, THAT’S WHAT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE, IN MY OPINION, AS TO HOW FAR YOU CAN GO. BUT IT IS AN INTERESTING TIME FOR AFRICANS AND AWARDS OUTSIDE OF THE SPECULATIVE FICTION AWARD. THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE -- AND I’M ACTUALLY READING THE BOOK RIGHT NOW AND IT HAS A LOT OF ELEMENTS OF MAGICAL REALISM TO IT, OF TRADITIONAL AND CREATIONAL MYTHS. SO YOU KNOW, MAYBE IT’S THE RIGHT TIME FOR THE NOMMO TO REALLY SHOWCASE WHAT’S GOING ON IN AFRICA. AND, YOU KNOW, I HOPE IT’S A BIT MORE THAN JUST THIS BUBBLE OF INTEREST AND 10 YEARS FROM NOW, WE’RE GOING TO GO BACK TO HEY, LOOK THERE’S AFRICAN SPECULATIVE FICTION OUT THERE BECAUSE WE’VE BEEN AROUND FOR A WHILE SO LET’S HOPE WHAT WE’RE ACHIEVING NOW AND BEST OF LUCK TO YOU, STEPHEN, TONIGHT, IS GOING TO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT AND LASTING DIFFERENCE TO THE SCENE.

STEPHEN EMBLETON: BEFORE I GET ONTO MY EXPERIENCE WITH WHAT AWARDS HAVE ACTUALLY DONE, THE FOUR OF US ARE ALL PART OF THE ORIGINAL AROUND ABOUT 58 CHARTER MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN SPECULATIVE FICTION SOCIETY AND GETTING THAT WHOLE NOMMO AWARDS INITIATIVE GOING. SO WE ALL HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW IT’S GROWN, WHERE IT STARTED. NOW, WE’RE SITTING AT -- WE WENT TO AKI FESTIVAL, WHO WERE KIND ENOUGH TO HOST US FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS, AND NOW, WE’RE SITTING AT WORLD CON. SO IT’S BEEN A ROAD. AS MAME SAID, WE FEEL LIKE WE’VE BEEN IN THIS BUBBLE AND AS FAR AS I’M CONCERNED, WE’VE HAD THIS BONFIRE GOING, WE’VE GOT THIS LIGHT GOING, AND NOW, THE WORLD IS REALLY ACTUALLY TAKING NOTICE OF WHAT’S COMING OUT OF THE CONTINENT. AND THE OTHER THING THAT MAZI MENTIONED WAS FROM A LITERARY POINT OF VIEW, SPECULATIVE AND FANTASY HAVE NEVER REALLY BEEN CONSIDERED PART OF THAT LITERARY COMMUNITY. AND WITH MY INVOLVEMENT WITH THE JAMES CURREY SOCIETY AND THE AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES, WHAT I’VE LOOKED AT QUITE EXTENSIVELY -- I MEAN, THERE’S LIKE 300 TITLES, BUT THE ONE THING THAT COMES OUT -- A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT COME OUT IS THE RANGE OF GENRES THAT ARE IN THOSE ORIGINAL LITERARY WORKS FROM THE 1960’s. THE MOST COMMON THINGS THAT ARE IN THERE ARE FANTASY, FOLKTALES, SPECULATIVE ELEMENTS, TRADITIONAL BELIEFS, ALL THAT KIND OF THINGS THAT WE ALL WRITE ABOUT AS A SPECULATIVE GENRE AND SO PART OF WHAT WE’RE DOING, ALL OF US, IS WRITING WHAT WE WANT, AND IT’S SLOWLY BECOMING MORE MAINSTREAM AND MAINSTREAM IN A GOOD WAY, MAINSTREAM IN THAT MORE PEOPLE ARE CONSIDERING IT TO BE LITERARY THAN BEFORE. SO THEN THE THINGS LIKE THE NOMMO’S FINALLY START TO GAIN TRACTION AS WE’VE BUILT UP THE MEMBERSHIP BASE, AS WE’VE BUILT UP THE CREDIBILITY OF THE WORK. SO WE ARE THE WRITERS WHO ARE ACTUALLY VOTING FOR THE WORK THAT GOES INTO THE NOMMO’S. SO IT’S THAT VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FROM OTHER WRITERS THAT PUTS YOU IN THAT RUNNING. SO THEN TO MY EXPERIENCE GETTING PUBLISHED OBVIOUSLY IS FANTASTIC AND MY FIRST WORKS THAT WERE PUBLISHED WERE ALL SHORT STORIES AND I CAME UP DOING THE SHORT STORY. AND JUST GETTING YOUR FIRST STORY PUBLISHED MEANS A HELL OF A LOT. AS DILMAN SAID, IT GIVES YOU THAT CONFIDENCE; IT MEANS THAT SOMEBODY ELSE OUT THERE, IT COULD BE ONE PERSON, HAS SAID THAT YOUR WORK IS WORTH PUTTING ONTO PAPER, BECAUSE WE KNOW ALL THAT’S INVOLVED IN PUBLISHING AND THE EFFORT THAT GOES INTO THAT. THE NEXT STEP WITH AN AWARD, GETTING JUST NOMINATED, HAS THAT SAME BOOST. FOR A LOT OF US, PARTICULARLY ON THE CONTINENT WHERE THERE’S NOT NECESSARILY A LOT OF PUBLISHERS AVAILABLE, IT JUST GIVES US THAT VOTE OF CONFIDENCE TO KEEP AT IT. EVEN IF YOU’RE GETTING A FEW CENTS A WORD, YOU’RE GOING TO DO IT AND MOST OF THE TIME, IT’S PART TIME. SO NOW, I’VE HAD TWO SHORT STORIES NOMINATED IN THE NOMMOS THAT DIDN’T BECOME FINALISTS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT AGAIN, THAT FELT GOOD, GETTING RECOGNIZED BY YOUR PEERS. SO WHEN THE PUBLIC THEN COMES IN AND LOOKS AT WELL WHO ARE THE PEOPLE IN THE RUNNING? THERE’S ALL THESE PHASES THAT GETS BOOSTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA, THAT THE PUBLIC CAN COME IN AND SEE. WHO’S BEING PUT OUT THERE AS WRITERS OF NOTE? AND I MEAN, EVEN ONE STEP BACK IS THE PUBLISHED LIST -- HE LISTS EVERYTHING THAT HAS BEEN PUBLISHED BY AN AFRICAN WRITER AND PUBLISHER CHRONOLOGICALLY. THAT HAS THAT ABILITY FOR US TO GET SEEN. SO NOW WITH SOUL SEARCHING BEING A FINALIST TONIGHT, IT’S ONE OF THREE, THAT’S GETTING VISIBILITY. AND IT’S ALSO GETTING VISIBILITY FOR THE PUBLISHER. THE PUBLISHER HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE SEEN AND GET THE WORKS FORWARD. AND THAT OBVIOUSLY IS THE ULTIMATE THING TO JUST KEEP THAT CIRCLE GOING, GETTING THE PUBLISHERS FUNDED AND, YOU KNOW, MAZI KNOWS IT’S ONE OF THE DIFFICULT THINGS, WHEN YOU AREN’T A PAID PUBLICATION, LET ALONE PUBLISHERS SELL WORKS. ING WORKS. THAT’S MY EXPERIENCE. AND WITH THE JAMES CURREY PRIZE, ALTHOUGH I DIDN’T WIN, I WAS IN THE TOP 10. THAT GAVE ME VISIBILITY. I WAS IN THE TOP FIVE, I DIDN’T WIN, BUT THEN I’M APPROACHED BY PUBLISHERS. SO THAT’S PART OF WHAT I UNDERSTOOD WAS GOING TO BE THE PROCESS. EVEN IF I WASN’T GOING TO WIN, I KNEW THAT THAT HAD ENOUGH VISIBILITY FOR THAT WORK, THAT UNPUBLISHED WORK, TO GET PUBLISHERS INTERESTED. AND THAT’S DONE THE JOB.

MAZI NWONWU: THANK YOU, STEPHEN. DILMAN, I WANT TO JUMP IN HERE BEFORE WE MOVE ON. THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT STEPHEN SAID THAT I FOUND VERY INTERESTING, AND I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE NOMMO’S, HOW IT STARTED. IN TERMS OF AWARDS IN THE CONTINENT OF AFRICA, I DON’T THINK WE HAVE ANY OTHER LITERARY AWARD THAT IS AS COMPREHENSIVE AS THE NOMMO’S. WE DON’T JUST GIVE AWARDS FOR THE BEST NOVEL, OR FOR THE BEST NOVELLA, THE BEST SHORT STORY, THE BEST ANIMATION. SO FOR ME, THE NOMMO’S OVER THE YEARS HAS BEEN LIKE A WAY OF WHO TO LOOK OUT FOR ACROSS THE GENRE IN AFRICA. WE ARE LOOKING FOR WHO ARE THE UPCOMING NAMES IN ANIMATION? YOU FIND PEOPLE WHOSE WORK HAS BEEN NOMINATED IN THE NOMMO’S. FOR COMICS, THE SAME THING. FOR GRAPHICS, THE SAME THING. THEN FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE WRITTEN THE BEST NOVEL IN SPECULATIVE FICTION OVER THE LAST YEAR, YOU FIND IT. SAME THING WITH THE SHORT STORIES. SO I THINK IT’S SOMETHING THAT IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE TO TAKE NOTE OF AND TO UNDERSTAND THAT IT’S NOT A ONE COUNTRY THING; IT IS ACROSS THE WHOLE OF AFRICA. IT’S WIDELY PRESENTED. AND I DOUBT THAT IF SOMETHING WRITTEN BY AN AFRICAN SPECULATIVE IN NATURE WOULD NOT BE CAPTURED BY THE NOMMO’S, IF NOT BY THE AWARD PROPER, BUT AS PART OF THE PROCESS THAT STEPHEN MENTIONED, WHICH I THINK IS VERY COMPREHENSIVE. IT GOES AS FAR BACK TO THE EARLY 2000s TO PICK STORIES THAT ARE SPECULATIVE IN NATURE BY WRITARDS WRITERSIN AFRICA. I THINK IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO PUT THAT OUT THERE. THANKS.

DILMAN DILA: OKAY. SO THE NOMMO’S. THE WAY IT IS MODELED OR THE WAY IT WORKS, IT’S BY NOMINATION. IT’S NOT A JUDGE-BASED AWARD, YEAH? BUT THERE IS ALWAYS -- I MIGHT BE MISTAKEN, BUT I THINK IT’S THE ONLY LITERARY PRIZE THAT DOES THIS IN THE CONTINENT. WE’VE HAD RECENTLY A SIMILAR AWARD IN UGANDA, BUT IT WAS MOSTLY FOR UGANDAN STUFF, AND IT WAS NOT SPECIFICALLY FOR LITERATURE, BUT EVERY KIND OF ART AND CULTURE. BUT WHAT THIS THING DOES, IT INVITED FANS TO NOMINATE AND TO VOTE FOR THEIR FAVORITE WORKS. AND, OF COURSE, THIS RUNS INTO THE QUESTION. SOMEBODY CAN VOTE FOR A WORK EVEN IF THEY HAVE NOT READ THE WORK. AND SO IF I FIND A WORK -- THE BEST CAMPAIGNER WINS, LIKE POLITICS. AND ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU HAVE THE JUDGES KIND OF THING WHERE IT’S ONLY TWO OR THREE PEOPLE READING A COLLECTION, YOU KNOW, LIKE ALL SUBMISSIONS. AND THEN, OF COURSE, IT MAY NOT BE WHAT PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKE, BUT IT’S JUST BECAUSE MAYBE TWO OF THESE THREE JUDGES LIKE THE STORY. AND IT MAY BE AGAIN NOT HUNDREDS OR THOUSANDS OF READERS’ CHOICES. I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOUR OPINIONS ARE ON THIS KIND OF THING. VOTING-BASED PRIZES VERSUS JUDGE-BASED PRIZES?

MAME BOUGOMA: I’M GOING TO TRY TO START WITH THIS ONE. AND ALSO A REMINDER THAT THE NOMMO ACTUALLY GIVES A FINANCIAL PRIZE FOR THE WINNERS AND A LOT OF THE INTERNATIONAL AWARDS DO NOT DO THAT AND FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE, IT’S IMPORTANT TO GET THE TITLE, BUT IT’S ALSO IMPORTANT TO GET THE MONEY AND ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU’RE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, ESPECIALLY WHEN SOME OF THAT MONEY GOES TOWARDS SUPPORTING THE SMALL PRESS THAT YOU’RE RUNNING, IT REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN ADDITION TO THE VISIBILITY. LOOK, HONESTLY I’M KIND OF ON THE FENCE ABOUT WHAT IS THE BEST MODEL, WHETHER IT’S THROUGH VOTING OR WHETHER IT’S THROUGH JUDGING. WHAT I’VE SEEN WITH THE NOMMO OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEARS IS THAT THE DIVERSITY OF AUTHORS HAS BEEN, YOU KNOW -- DIVERSITY OF AUTHORS IN TERMS OF GENDER, THE COUNTRIES THAT THEY COME FROM, THE FACT THAT YOU DON’T ALWAYS FTE SAME ESTABLISHED GET THE SAME ESTABLISHED AUTHORS YEAR AFTER YEAR. A LOT OF UPCOMING PEOPLE RISE UP, OUT OF THE BLUE, THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW THEY’RE SHORT-LISTED FOR THE NOMMO. AT LEAST IN TERMS OF WITHIN THE SOCIETY, PEOPLE ARE SELECTING THEIR STORIES IS LESS OF A POPULARITY CONTEST A THAN AN HONEST APPRECIATION OF THE WORK. BUT IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS DISCUSSED EARLY ON AND THE REASON WHY WE DECIDED TO KEEP IT SMALL AND NOT OPEN IT LIKE THE LOCUS AWARDS TO EXTERNAL VOTING IS BECAUSE THEN IT DOES BECOME A POPULARITY CONTEST, THEN IT DOES TURN INTO, YOU KNOW, WHO SHOWCASES THEMSELVES THE BEST ON THE INTERNET AND ON TWITTER? AND IT MIGHT NOT EVEN BE LITERARY-RELATED. IT’S PERSONALITY, IT’S CHARM, ALL THOSE THINGS THAT CREATE THE INFLUENCERS OF TODAY. BUT, YOU KNOW, THERE ALSO IS SOMEWHAT OF A DRAWBACK TO HAVING A CLOSED CIRCUIT. IT’S JUST THAT YOU DON’T GET AS MUCH VISIBILITY; YOU DON’T DRAW IN AS MUCH ATTENTION AND, YOU KNOW, YOU KIND OF LIMIT YOURSELVES WHEN YOU COULD REACH OUT TO HAVE MORE DONORS. THEN IT BECOMES TRICKY AND THE WAY YOU BALANCE THINGS. I’M NOT EDUCATED ENOUGH ON THE TOPIC TO REALLY HAVE A DEFINITIVE OPINION. LIKE I SAID, I’M A BIT ON THE FENCE, BUT, YOU KNOW, THERE IS VALUE TO BOTH MODELS. THEN I THINK STEPHEN CAN PROBABLY SPEAK TO THAT A LITTLE BIT BETTER. WE HAD OUR OWN LITTLE SAD PUPPIES A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO WHERE PEOPLE WERE TRYING TO RIG NOMINATIONS. AND IT WAS CAUGHT EARLY ON. SO MAYBE THE ANSWER IS NOT SO MUCH IN THE MODEL BUT IN THE ATTENTION AND THE WORK YOU PUT INTO TRIAGE AND SELECTING EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS AND MAKING SURE YOUR PROCESS IS AS FAIR AS POSSIBLE.

STEPHEN EMBLETON: GOING ON FROM THAT, AS MOST PEOPLE KNOW, ONE OF THE INTERNATIONAL AWARDS HAD THAT SAD PUPPY SITUATION AND WE HAD SOMETHING SIMILAR, WHICH WE NIPPED IN THE BUD QUITE QUICKLY, AND WHAT THEN HAPPENED FROM THAT WAS THEN MORE CHECKS AND BALANCES WERE PUT IN PLACE. THE RULES WERE JUST REITERATED AND MADE A LOT MORE CLEAR IN TERMS OF WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN’T DO. AND THEN THERE HASN’T BEEN A PROBLEM EVER SINCE THEN. SO FROM MY OPINION AND NOT JUST BECAUSE OF THE INVOLVEMENT IN THE NOMMO’S ITSELF, IS THAT IT IS VOTING BY OUR FELLOW WRITERS AND CREATIVES. IT’S NOT AS PUBLIC, BUT I’VE WATCHED CHATTER ONLINE WHICH THE LONG LIST IS RELEASED, YOU KNOW, AND HOW PEOPLE REACT TO THAT. SO I THINK THE MORE THAT THE NAME RECOGNITION GETS OUT THERE, THE BETTER FOR THE VISIBILITY OF THAT. SO, YOU KNOW -- AND THEN THE LISTS THEMSELVES HAVE VALUE FOR EVERYBODY THAT’S INVOLVED, YOU KNOW. YOU GET TO THE SHORT LIST, AND NOW, YOU GET TO THE FINALS. SO THOSE ALL HAVE SIGNIFICANCE. I THINK THE ONE THING THAT WHENEVER WE’VE PUBLISHED ANY OF THOSE LONG LIST, SHORT LIST FINALISTS, IT IS THE DIVERSITY THAT HAS ALWAYS STOOD OUT AS NUMBER ONE. THERE’S NO -- YOU DON’T SEE A PATTERN TO ANYTHING. THAT ALSO GOES TO THE INCLUSION, THE INCLUSIVITY OF WHAT MAKES AN AFRICAN QUAL QUALIFIED FOR THE AFRICAN SPECULATIVE FICTION AND THE WORKS THEMSELVES. SO THAT THEN, IN THOSE LONG LISTS, YOU SEE A REAL RANGE OF PEOPLE, TALENT, STORIES, THEMES, ETC. I THINK IT’S REALLY SOMETHING THAT WE CAN AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PROUD OF.

MAZI NWONWU: I THINK FOR ME, THE QUESTION OF WHICH PARTICULAR MODEL WORKS BEST IS A DIFFICULT ONE, JUST LIKE MAME SAID. IT’S DIFFICULT BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU GET THE SAME RESULT: SOMEBODY IS A WINNER, AND MOST PEOPLE DON’T GO QUESTIONING THE PROCESS. NOBODY ASKS, HOW DID THIS PERSON EMERGE? SO I THINK MODELS DIFFERENT AND WHATEVER MODEL SOMEONE CHOOSES TO USE, JUST TO BE SURE THAT THEY ARE TRUE TO THE TRUTHS, IF I CAN USE THAT WORD, AND MAKE SURE THAT WHOEVER COMES UP CAME OUT BECAUSE THERE WAS AN AUTHENTIC VOTE CAST OR AN AUTHENTIC JUDGMENT OF THE WORKS THAT WE ARE INSERTING INTO THE COMPETITION. SO OVER THE YEARS, I’VE SEEN INSTANCES WHERE LIKE MAME SAID, PEOPLE WIN AWARDS BECAUSE OF THEIR POPULARITY. IT DOESN’T SEEM TO HAPPEN SO MUCH IN LITERATURE BECAUSE GENERALLY, IT’S LIKE A CIRCLE OF PEOPLE WHO ARE WRITERS OR ENTHUSIASTS SO TO SAY, PEOPLE WHO TEND TO WANT TO READ THE WORK. SO YOUR WORK MUST SPEAK FOR ITSELF TO BE A WINNER. SO I DON’T THINK THE MODEL IS MUCH OF AN ISSUE, IF IF IT’S DONE THE RIGHT WAY. AND THEN KATIE HAS A QUESTION.

DILMAN DILA: DO YOU WANT TO ANSWER IT? THERE’S A QUESTION FROM SOMEWHERE. FROM THE AUDIENCE. WHAT CAN BE DONE TO ORGANICALLY PROMOTE THE WORK OF YOUNGER, NEUROANEWER AUTHORS OR AUTHORS FROM NON-ENGLISH-SPEAKING REGIONS? ANY THOUGHTS OR IDEAS OF STEPS TO TAKE? I THINK WE DID TACKLE THIS A BI BIT, BUT MAYBE STREAMLINE YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHAT IS BEING DONE WITHIN THE AFRICAN SPECULATIVE FICTION REALM, THE NOMMO AWARDS, WHAT IS BEING DONE TO INCLUDE NON-ENGLISH-SPEAKING REGIONS? BEFORE YOU GO, AND I THINK RECENTLY THERE WAS AN AWARD IN KENYA THAT WAS SPECIFICALLY FOR SWAHILI WORKS. I FORGET THE NAME OF THE AWARD, BUT IT WAS FOR SCIENCE FICTION WORKS WRITTEN IN SWAHILI. I HAVEN’T READ THE WORKS YET, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE A REALLY COOL CONCEPT BECAUSE THERE WERE AWARDS IN SCIENCE FICTION THAT ARE NOT IN ENGLISH, AND IT’S NORMALLY STRANGE TO THINK, GIVEN OUR COLONIAL HISTORIES, IT’S REALLY STRANGE TO THINK OF STORIES BEING WRITTEN IN LANGUAGES OTHER THAN EUROPEAN LANGUAGES, STORIES ABOUT TECHNOLOGY, ABOUT THE FUTURE. SO THAT’S ONE OF THOSE AWARDS THAT’S BEING DONE. BUT WHAT CAN WE SAY ABOUT THE NOMMO, THE AFRICAN SPECULATIVE FICTION, AND HOW THEY ARE DOING? WHAT’S BEING DONE TO DO THIS?

MAZI NWONWU: LET ME SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THAT. ONE OF THE KEY THINGS WE TRY TO DO IS LOOK FOR NEW VOICES. SO EVERY EDITION, WE ARE ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN PUBLISHED FOR, PEOPLE WHO ARE JUST PUTTING OUT THEIR VERY FIRST WORK, AND BECAUSE WE HAVE THIS SYSTEM WHERE WE DO EDITS WITH THE WRITERS FOR THINGS SUBMITTED, IT TENDS TO ALLOW THE BEST THAT MOST OF THE WRITERS HAVE TO GET OUT THERE TO THE PUBLIC. AND WE’VE DISCOVERED A LOT OF YOUNG WRITERS WHO SOME OF THEM -- A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO ENDED UP WINNING THE NO NOMMO --

[INAUDIBLE]

SO WE’RE ALWAYS ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR YOUNG WRITERS, AND I THINK THAT WAS ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF THE AFRICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND SPECULATIVE SOCIETY, BECAUSE ONE THING THAT I KNOW OVER THE YEARS IS WHENEVER WE HAVE NEW WRI WRITERS -- (AUDIO MUFFLED) TO BECOME MEMBERS AND ALSO ENCOURAGE THESE WRITERS TO JOIN AND BECOME MEMBERS AND THEN -- BECAUSE SOME OF THEM DON’T EVEN KNOW SOMETHING LIKE THAT EXISTS. THEY JUST HEARD ABOUT THE AWARD AND -- AGAIN AT THE MOMENT, I WAS WORKING WITH MAME A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, A FRENCH VERSION -- EVERY EDITION, WE HAVE A COUPLE OF STORIES IN FRENCH BY WRITERS FROM FRANCOPHONE AFRICA OR THE DIASPORA AND SUBMIT AND PUBLISH THEM ALONG WITH OTHER STORIES IN ENGLISH. SO AFRICAN LANGUAGES, IT’S A LITTLE BIT MORE DIFFICULT BECAUSE THERE IS THE QUESTION OF TRANSLATION. SO ACROSS AFRICA, WHERE DO THEY SPEAK ENGLISH, FRENCH, PORTUGUESE, OTHER LANGUAGES THAT IF SOMEBODY IS GOING TO WRITE IN THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE, YOU HAVE TO GET SOMEBODY WHO CAN SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE TO TRANSLATE IT INTO ENGLISH AND MOST TIMES, WRITERS ARE NOT WILLING TO TRANSLATE THEIR WORK, . THAT I THINK IS A CHALLENGE FOR USING AFRICAN LANGUAGES. I’M PRETTY SURE AS TIME GOES ON, WE’LL GET TO THE LEVEL WHERE IT WON’T BE -- IT WOULDN’T BE A RARE THING. IT’S GOING TO BE MORE OF A NORM FOR EVERY EDITION, THEY’RE PROBABLY GOING TO HAVE ONE AFRICAN LANGUAGE, BUT THERE GOES THAT QUESTION, WHERE ARE THE READERS OF THESE STORIES? IS IT GOING TO BE ONLY LOCAL PEOPLE, BECAUSE THE TRANSLATION, IT’S EASY TO TRANSLATE FROM FRENCH TO ENGLISH, AND IT’S NOT THAT GOOD IF I WORK FOR A LANGUAGE SERVICE, IF I WRITE THEN WRITE SOMETHING IN IGBU, TO TRANSLATE IT IN ENGLISH, IT’S GETTING BETTER BUT THE TRANSLATION IS ALWAYS OFF. SO A LOT WILL BE LOST IN TRANSLATION. SO I THINK IN TIME, AS THE -- GET BETTER WITH THE LANGUAGES, FOR SURE. SO WE ARE DOING THINGS ABOUT YOUNG WRITERS. AND WE’RE ALSO DOING SOMETHING ABOUT PUBLISHING IN OTHER LANGUAGES.

DILMAN DILA: STEPHEN?

STEPHEN EMBLETON: SO TWO PARTS TO WHAT I WANT TO SAY. FIRST IS THE NOMMO’S AND THEN SECONDLY IS THE PUBLISHING. SO THE NOMMO’S IS REALLY RELIANT ON THE PUBLISHED WORKS AND THE WORKS THAT ARE BEING VOTED AND NOMINATED. SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE PUBLISHING SIDE AS MAZI JUST MENTIONED, GREAT WORK IN GETTING OTHER LANGUAGES OUT THERE AND WITH FRANCOPHONE STORIES. SO IT’S REALLY ABOUT -- IF THERE’S ANY PUBLICATIONS THAT PUBLISH IN AN AFRICAN LANGUAGE, THEN THE VOTERS CAN VOTE FOR THAT AND THAT WILL GO INTO THE NOMMO’S. SO IT FEEDS THROUGH. SO THERE’S NO EXCLUSION, IF YOU HAVE THE QUALIFYING CRITERIA, NUMBER OF VOTES TO NOMINATE AND GET SOMEBODY INTO THE FINALISTS LONG LIST. SO THEN FROM THE PUBLISHING SIDE, PARTICULARLY IN AFRICAN LANGUAGES MUNYAO KILOLO IS INVOLVED IN LAUNCHING THE ITUĨKA LITERARY PLATFORM, WHICH IS ALL ABOUT TRANSLATIONS OF AFRICAN WRITING AND PUBLISHING AND SUPPORT FOR THOSE WORKS GETTING OUT THERE. SO THERE’S A LOT OF WORK THAT’S BEING DONE IN THAT RESPECT THAT, YOU KNOW, WILL THEN HOPEFULLY, FEED THROUGH TO THE LIKES OF NOMMO’S, IF NOT MORE AND, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE IN THE DIASPORA AS FAR AS THE LANGUAGES OUT THERE. SO ALSO WITH THE RELAUNCH OF THE AFRICAN WRITER SERIES, WE ARE VERY FOCUSED ON GETTING THOSE WRITTEN AFRICAN LANGUAGE STORIES, NOT JUST ENGLISH. YES, THE MAJORITY WILL BE ENGLISH, THE MAJORITY WILL BE PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH BECAUSE THAT’S GOING OUT TO A WIDER AUDIENCE, BUT WE’RE GOING TO BE WORKING WITH TRANSLATORS TO GET ORIGINAL WORKS IN THOSE LANGUAGES TRANSLATED TO LOCAL LANGUAGES WHERE MAYBE THE WRITER RESIDES OR A PUBLISHER INTERESTED IN PUBLISHING IT IN THEIR REGION. SO ONCE YOU GET OVER THAT LANGUAGE HURDLE, THERE’S STILL A WAY TO GO, THEN, YOU KNOW, THE LIKES OF THE NOMMO’S WILL START FEATURING THOSE. AND IT’S ALSO, YOU KNOW, WE’VE GOT THE FOUR CATEGORIES AND THERE’S ALSO BEEN DISCUSSION IN BREAKING THOSE DOWN OR ADDING MORE CATEGORIES, BUT AT THE MOMENT IT’S REALLY ABOUT VOLUME AND THE ADMINISTRATION. SO WHEN WE THINK WE’RE GOING TO HAVE AN INTERMEDIATE BETWEEN A NOVEL, NOVELLA, NOVELETTE, AND WE’RE GETTING THE VOLUME, LET’S SPLIT IT OUT IF WE’VE GOT THE VOLUME COMING IN. SO THE SAME WITH THE LANGUAGE. IF WE CAN -- I MEAN, IT WOULD BE A FANTASTIC THING TO HAVE AFRICAN-LANGUAGE CATEGORY, WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE. SO THOSE ARE THE TYPES OF THINGS THAT ALL OF US, WE SPEAK VARIOUS LANGUAGES. WE WANT TO GET THAT REPRESENTATION OUT THERE AND WE WANT THOSE WORKS WRITTEN IN THE LANGUAGE THAT YOU’RE USED TO WRITING IN.

DILMAN DILA: OKAY.

MAME BOUGOMA: I WOULD OFFER SOMETHING BASED ON MY CONNECTION, NOT TO LOOK AT THE GENERAL CHALLENGES AROUND STRENGTH OF PUBLISHING ON THE CONTINENT VERSUS HOW MUCH A COUNTRY HAS REAPPROPRIATED ITS NATIONAL LANGUAGE AS PART OF THEIR CORE CURRICULUM IN SCHOOL AND THEREFORE PROMOTING MORE WRITING AND MORE LITERACY AND FLUENCY IN AFRICAN LANGUAGES. WHAT I’M SEEING WITH FRENCH AND THE NOMMO AWARD, SOMETHING THAT WAS FLOATED AROUND, NOT JUST FOR ANY OTHER LANGUAGE THAT DOES NOT HAVE AS MUCH VOLUME AS ENGLISH BECAUSE THAT’S ALWAYS GOING TO SKEW THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO READ IT BECAUSE EVEN PEOPLE IN FRANCOPHONE COUNTRIES ARE LEARNING ENGLISH NOW BECAUSE IT’S MUCH MORE USEFUL TO THEM WHEN THEY WANT TO TAKE SUPPORT CONSULTS. BUT WHAT WE WERE DOING WAS POTENTIALLY ONCE WE HAVE ENOUGH TEXT TO WORK ON, AS PART OF THE NOM AWARD AND MAYBE THIS ANSWERS PART OF YOUR QUESTION EARLIER, DILMAN, SINCE IT’S GOING TO BE TOO SMALL STATISTICALLY TO HAVE AN AWARD THROUGH VOTING, THEN WE COULD BE OPENING TO HAVE A PANEL OF JUDGES IN SAID LANGUAGE WHO WOULD REVIEW THE STORIES AVAILABLE AND COME UP WITH A WINNER, EITHER SHORT STORIES, NOVELS, NOVELLAS, NOVELETTES OR GRAPHIC NOVELS. PROBABLY A CONVERSATION FOR SUNDAY WHEN WE HAVE A MORE DETAILED DISCUSSION ON PUBLISHING ITSELF, BUT IT’S ALSO A MATTER OF WHERE IT IS WE’RE LOOKING AND WHAT KIND OF MARKETS WE’RE STEERING AT BECAUSE A LOT OF US WRITE IN ENGLISH, ALTHOUGH WE DO WRITE AFRICAN STORIES, WE’RE AIMING AT WESTERN MARKETS. AND SO THE VISIBILITY IS NOT NECESSARILY IN THE AFRICAN SPACE. WHEN I’M LOOKING AT THE FRANCOPHONES, SOME OF THE ONES THAT I’VE MET RAPIDLY IN DAKAR AND OTHER PLACES, THERE’S A LOT OF SELF-PUBLISHING, SO IT DOESN’T GET THAT KIND OF VISIBILITY. THEY HAVE PUBLISHING HOUSES THAT TEND TO BE MUCH MORE LIMITED IN TERMS OF MARKETING. SO THE AUTHORS HAVE TO SPEND THE REVENUE FROM THE BOOKS ON PROMOTING THEIR BOOKS, AND THEY ARE ACTUALLY TRYING TO WRITE TO A LOCAL AUDIENCE. AND I FIND THAT REALLY INTERESTING BECAUSE IT DOES CHANGE THE TYPE OF STORIES THAT WE’RE SEEING AND IT DOES CHANGE THE TYPE OF WRITING, EVEN IF IT’S IN FRENCH. THERE’S SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT, A LITTLE BIT MORE COLORFUL, MORE LOCAL IN THE WAY THE STORIES ARE WRITTEN, THAN WHAT YOU EXPECT TO SEE PUBLISHED IN FRANCE, BELGIUM OR CANADA, BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE WRITING IN A COLONIAL LANGUAGE, THEY’RE STILL AIMING AT A CULTURALLY LOCAL AUDIENCE. SO IT’S A WORK IN PROGRESS. IT’S A WORK IN PROGRESS, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE DID CONSIDER AT THE NOMMO. AND I DO HOPE THAT WITHIN THE NEXT YEAR OR SO AS WE PROGRESS AND GENERATE ENOUGH MASS TO HAVE SOMETHING TO LAUNCH A NOMMO AWARD IN FRENCH, TOO, AND OTHER LANGUAGES, TOO. WHY NOT?

DILMAN DILA: I LOOK FORWARD TO THAT KIND OF FUTURE BECAUSE I WAS IN SOUTH AFRICA UP TO LAST WEEK AND I WAS AMAZED BY HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE WRITING IN XHOSA, I DON’T KNOW HOW TO PRONOUNCE THAT PROPERLY AND IN ZULU AND ALL THE LOCAL LANGUAGES. IT MADE ME FEEL PROUD THON LIKE LIKE UGANDA WHERE PEOPLE STILL WRITE IN ENGLISH, SOUTH AFRICANS, THEY KIND OF -- THERE’S A WHOLE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY IN ZULU AND ALL THESE. SO IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE CATEGORIES WITHIN THE NOMMO AWARDS FOR WORKS WRITTEN AND JUDGED IN THEIR LANGUAGE RATHER THAN TRANSLATED, BECAUSE AT SOME POINT, WE HAVE -- WE HAVE TO TRANSLATE BECAUSE NOT EVERYBODY WILL SPEAK THAT LANGUAGE, BUT IT WOULD BE NICE TO JUDGE A WORK FROM ITS ORIGINAL WRITING, RATHER THAN IN ITS TRANSLATED VERSION, WHICH IS WHAT I THINK OTHER AWARDS DO. YOU CAN SUBMIT TO THE PRIZES, BUT IT HAS TO BE

James Currey Fellowship – Oxford University 2022

Oxford University. James Currey Fellow in 2022. These are not words I would have associated with my career, but here we are...

As the chosen James Currey Fellow, the James Currey Society and Oxford have granted me a month-long residence, as Academic Visitor, at the African Studies Centre at Oxford University in Jan/Feb 2022. 

It is exciting and an honour to be given this opportunity to represent African literature (in all its speculative and fantastical abundance).  

INTERVIEW: CLARITY AND DUALITY IN THE FANTASTICAL REALM

 

My interview from the James Currey Prize series via Africa in Dialogue and the probing Davina Philomena Kawuma. Though 'Bones & Runes' didn’t win (congrats to Ani Kayode Somtochukwu!), things are afoot with the manuscript…📖❤️ 

The interview process was really enjoyable and I learned a lot about my own process through Davina's questions.

Stephen’s manuscript, ‘Bones & Runes’, explores traditional African beliefs, mythology, and the supernatural through the points of view of iSangoma, a Druid, and a Hindu Warrior-Magician.

Stephen discusses how documentary filmmaking helps him write persuasive fiction, social-media-induced anxieties, stream-of-consciousness ranting, conversations with Sangomas, the importance of listening to our ancestors, a lifelong fascination with birds – he even takes a secondhand potshot at my favourite birds, but (miraculously!) emerges unscathed (hooray! hurrah!) – and serving up real-world situations and emotions for his fictional characters.

– DAVINA PHILOMENA KAWUMA 

Read the full interview here. 

Our Looted Lives

How it ended

 

How it started – 23 June 2021

TL;DR: On 23 June we packed up house – 95% of our household and moved in with friends. While staying with my brother and his wife in Limpopo on 12 July, our world seemed to go up in smoke. From one emotional situation to another, we thought we'd hit rock bottom until the Universe opened another layer of the bottomless pit. But the pit was a tunnel...with light at the end of it.

On 23 June we packed up house – 95% of our household – and moved in with friends Jane and John Smith. It was hard watching all our stuff get packed away, mostly inaccessible, into one regular garage-sized space. Equally hard was figuring out what we "needed" on a daily basis with us and that could fit in a suitcase.

Having friends and family supporting us during this time made a huge difference, and those that understood what we were going through already.

My brother Michael and my sister-in-law Cecilia had said we must come up to them in Limpopo when we could and we made plans to do that once we had done the move and settled at the Smiths. 

On 8 July we traveled 12 hours (circumventing Gauteng during their border lockdown), stopping apprehensively in Estcourt where Zuma had handed himself in to authorities. All was good in the cold, quiet petrol stop. We headed onward with a few stops in between and finally arrived at my brother and sister-in-law's place outside Vaalwater as the winter night was setting in. The middle of nowhere never looked better. 

What we saw on social media on Monday 12 July.

Sunday we saw images from the nighttime looting and burning at our storage premises entrance, hoping our unit was far enough away to go untouched. 

Monday morning Jane sent Riley a message about the night’s effects on the storage facility. She had a video. Riley asked her to send it. She warned us. We wanted to see it. 

I wasn’t prepared to actually get to see near our unit and realise what it meant. Riley burst into tears and I was trembling as we hugged. I took two screenshots of the video and walked into the main house. Cecilia was in the kitchen and I asked where Michael was. He was outside the front of the house by his bakkie. He said howzit as he moved some metal beams (his deck materials) and asked how I had slept – and then what was wrong as he saw my expression. I rubbed my face in exasperation and walked up to him and hugged him for a while as I sobbed. He kept asking what was up. 

I then opened my phone with shaking hands and fingers to show him the screenshots. 

Shit. 

I eventually caught my breath.

I thought fuck it. People need to know where this is hitting some of us. It’s not just businesses and shopping malls. So I posted it to Facebook and Instagram, and for the first time let people know we were homeless, staying with friends and family:

Some of you may know Riley and I needed to pack up our household (to stay with friends and family for a while). Last night and this morning the storage facility housing 99% of our stuff (in Waterfall) was targeted by the looting hitting KZN. The circled area is where our unit is. (This is a screenshot from a video which I won’t be posting) We are in Limpopo staying with my brother, so personally we are safe. We hope everyone is staying safe. ❤️

The location of our unit in the smoke

The rest of that week was tense. We felt so detached and a million miles from our family (elderly parents) and friends back in Hillcrest and Durban where the brunt of the rioting and looting was playing out. There seemed to be no assistance from government and law enforcement. And yet, Riley and I felt extremely safe where we were and the community around us in Vaalwater – their preparedness for being cutoff from the rest of the area or world during floods and fires and the zombie apocalypse. There was also something reassuring about being with big brother and his military training.

Social media posts said everything was lost, nothing survived. And that is what we dealt with. We tried not to watch too many videos.

We would lie awake in the middle of the night while random objects from our day to day lives in our house would pop into our minds. Fuck, that's gone. An emotional ride of the precious and the mundane objects that made us tear up.

By the end of the week we began getting daily updates from the very efficient staff at the storage facility. But updates soon became frustrating as we were told our unit was among those inaccessible due to danger of collapse from the fire damage.

We had to sit on our hands while others rushed in to retrieve their belongings, move them out to safety, post on social media and WhatsApp groups about things they found and the scenes they witnessed – is this anyones? We tried to catch glimpses of anything that may be ours – anything remaining?

We eventually travelled back to be around in person and handle anything that needed handling. Still we waited. More people posted about the facility. Those allowed in.

Then we said fuck it and decided to go and see for ourselves no matter what.

How we found it on Thursday 5 August.

Thursday 5 August we decided to go to the facility. Driving slowly up Brakenhill Road was eery. A war zone. We went through the makeshift security gate (the electric gate system was nonexistent). Signed in.

Walking through the detritus and the mayhem was emotional. We got to our unit and began rummaging through the actual ash. Coins. Broken crockery. Trying to discern things from our lives now rendered abstract. A gut punch when you realise what a little thing was part of. After two weeks of letting go it was hard realising the things we had lost, that we hadn't even thought of. Stupid things. Insignificant things. Significant at some point in time. 

We were finally told we were allowed to open up and remove everything. The complex was going to be demolished. They angled-grinded the still secure padlock (not even the fire extinguisher alongside could smash the padlock like they do in the movies).

Compared with 065 and 067, our unit was almost untouched by human hands. From being told all was lost to a glimmer of hope. It was a rollercoaster of emotions every day not knowing and hearing tidbits from others and social media. But the fire...

The ash in the foreground comprised burned and melted clumps of our things.

Not much help during the week in question

Then I climbed inside…

Inside was on another level. The unit was 3 metres high, with the top layer of "light" furniture and loose items exposed to what was evidently a raging roof blaze. Everything one metre deep was charred and covered in ash. Everything below that was covered in a thick greasy soot.

I kept my mask on the entire time, fully aware of the crap I was going to be breathing in.

I climbed to the top of the two metre high stacked items to survey the room, pulled out my pocket torch and looked on.

A soft breeze wafted black flakes and ash around me.

I balanced on one leg and awkwardly took photos while calling back to Riley, pacing up and down outside while picking at random bits on the ash piles, through muffled mask. This is fucked. That is fucked. This could be ok.

And so the slow unpacking process began. Disappointment at seeing what could not be salvaged. Relief at what had survived, even covered in grime.

Mostly I got a frustrated What? in response because I was out of breath and talking from a blackened cave and Riley was getting things done outside.

I made it back outside, leopard crawling through the gnarly gap in the garage door, and removed my mask to catch my breath. But the fresh air wasn't fresh. It was the first time (without a mask) I smelled the burned and sooty air. Siff.

We formed two piles on either side of our unit – "Trash" – with a cleared path in front for the "To Keep" items. 

Trash Left

It felt like more was being trashed than salvaged.

Trash Right

As we neared the back of the unit we realised the danger raised by the fire department. A vertical crack ran up the far right corner wall, daylight shining through and the haunting whistle of the wind rustling the ceiling foil insulation. Attempting to heft the scorched three-seater couch, stacked upright on a desk, didn't go well as it teetered backward, reverberating off the back wall. Nothing collapsed.

Getting through it. The section worst hit by the fire.

Family furniture from my mother, unusable.

But there was some light in that ashy darkness. From halfway was the majority of our sturdy packed and taped boxes. Most were intact with the really precious things. The loose Fletcher (Mom) family photos from the 1930s onwards which I hadn't gotten around to scanning yet (the Embleton photos had been scanned weeks leading up to us moving and given back to my father). My and Riley's loose shoeboxes of photos – pre-digital – of our kids from babies up until around 2004. Not scanned.

How, I don't know.

Some things were beyond explanation. Like a fully inflated yoga ball.

Riley in the mayhem. Junk to her left and right.

A few units down was an empty unit, without a door, which we were allowed to pack our remains into – temporarily – while we organise it all to be moved to the Springfield depot in Durban the following week. A smaller unit.

Exhausted
The two days was hard work. Just the two of us.

Riley's hand

We just wanted it to be done. We had done all of this at the end of June and now we were revisiting it. And then revisiting it again to move it to Durban!

On Monday 9 August we went back to the storage facility for family to take some items for us. I was feeling depressed watching all the stuff that was going to waste. Dining chairs etc that could be refurbished – not by us! – by ANYONE and used, rather than tossed on a dump as firewood.

WASTE.

It's done.

Some things survived. Some things didn't. We survived.

Self-Destruct (Short Story) Published

 My latest short story, Self-Destruct, was published this week in Omenana #18.

Read the FULL issue here.

I’m really grateful to have my latest short story featured in Omenana Speculative Fiction Magazine: a standout publication for all things African SFF❤️ the team involved have pulled it off yet again. 
“Self-Destruct” is a short something about being hemmed in, frustrated and lacking face-to-face relationships. And it’s set in the future 😉
Alongside other fantastic authors I know I’ll be enjoying reading over the coming days, READ ISSUE #18 out now FREE.
Table of Contents:
Le pacte du fleuve – Moustapha Mbacké DiopThe Diviner – VH NcubeEating Kaolin – Dare Segun FalowoUpgraded Versions of a Masquerade – Solomon UhiaraArriving from Always – Nerine DormanTHE JINI – Wangari WamaeShandy – Gabrielle Emem HarrySELF-DESTRUCT – Stephen EmbletonGermination – Tiah BeautementThe Third Option – Jen ThorpeMachine Learning – Ayodele Arigbabu
Read the FULL issue online: https://omenana.com/2021/07/22/omenana-speculative-fiction-magazine-issue-18/

Soul Searching on the Clarke Award 105 Eligible List

 

What a fantastic thing... for Soul Searching to be on the Arthur C. Clarke Award "long list" of eligible books – 105 titles read by the judges. 📖❤️🚀 

Check them all out here.

Young Adult Novel (unpublished) Longlisted in James Currey Prize

This morning was a shot out of the blue...

and I am most grateful for the longlisting of a Young Adult (YA)/New Adult fantasy story I am passionate about telling.

Bones and Runes was begun in September 2016 as a short story idea that demanded be told in its entirety, as a novel, and as the first in a trilogy. I spent the next two years researching (and posting my research and interviews on my podcast, cltrSHIFT) but paused at the end of 2018 with a third of the novel written but the majority plotted out. I also had such fun doing the fantasy world map and accompanying ink illustrations (whether they are ever used or not).

Come 2020 – and lockdown from March – I then threw myself into it without any distractions – work was slow. It was the most fun I've had in writing, and writing a novel-length work (considering how long Soul Searching took me writing part time).

Find the press release and full list here.