Issue 08 |
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š Hi there! How’s October treating you? |
Mine has been warm, like a cup of soothing tea ☕. This week, I’ve been thinking about the kinds of stories we tell. I’ve always known African writers work across genres, but discovering the sci-fi and Afrofuturist stories coming out of the continent has been a different kind of excitement. There’s so much more to explore! |
We’re doing some of that exploring in this issue, alongside an interview with author Nnamdi Ehirim, new book releases, and a look back at a theatre classic. |
Here’s what’s brewing: |
Currently Reading: Five sci-fi and Afrofuturist books to check out In Conversation With: An interview with Nnamdi Ehirim Backlist Gem: Sizwe Bansi Is Dead New Release Round-Up Quote of the Week This or That?
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Currently Reading |
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Five sci-fi and Afro-futurism books you should check out |
What happens when aliens arrive in Lagos, a mysterious dome gives people superpowers, or minds begin hopping between bodies in Botswana? |
African sci-fi takes these questions and runs with them, building worlds that are as strange as they are fascinating. From gladiatorial prison fights to futuristic visions of the continent, these five books deserve a spot on your reading list, whether you’re discovering the genre or looking for your next great read. |
Lagoon - Nnedi Okorafor |
What happens when aliens make first contact on a busy night at Lagos’ Bar Beach? In Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon, the city’s response is anything but welcoming. Panic and hostility spread as Lagos descends into chaos, and three strangers find themselves caught in the middle of an encounter that could change humanity forever. |
Adaora, a brilliant marine biologist; Anthony Dey Craze, a famous Ghanaian musician; and Agu, a rogue soldier, must find a way to bridge the gap between humans and the aliens. Their biggest challenge is protecting Ayodele, a shape-shifting alien ambassador. This fast-paced sci-fi is told through multiple perspectives, including those of sea creatures. |
Rosewater - Tade Thompson |
What is interesting about a futuristic sci-fi? A Nigerian near-future one, and even more interesting is that this book falls in the cyberpunk-thriller genre. |
Rosewater is the first book in a trilogy set in 2066, after an alien invasion leaves the United States isolated and London swallowed up. In Nigeria, the town of Rosewater draws people from far and wide for a strange annual event: a dome opens and miraculously heals the sick, but it also releases alien spores that give certain humans psychic abilities. |
Chain Gang Allstars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah |
In Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s brutal world, prisoners serving life sentences can earn their freedom by surviving three years of televised gladiatorial fights. |
Loretta Thurwar and Hurricane Staxxx, star fighters and lovers, are closer than ever to escaping. But as Loretta’s sentence nears its end, greedy corporate owners keep changing the rules to prolong their profitable captivity. Will they win their freedom or spark a rebellion? |
Womb City - Tlotlo Tsamaase |
What would life be like in a world where minds hop between bodies, but you don’t get to choose your own flesh? For Nelah, living in futuristic Botswana is far from ideal. Her current body is microchipped and constantly scrutinized because of its criminal past. To make matters worse, it’s infertile, and Nelah desperately wants a child. |
She turns to alternatives, watching her baby grow in a wombcubator pod, but must still fight to retain ownership of the child. Then, a fatal hit-and-run involving her and her secret lover upends her life. When a ghost begins haunting her, Nelah’s attempts to stop it lead her into a conspiracy that changes everything. |
Lost Ark Dreaming - Suyi Davies Okungbowa |
Our top recommendation is reminiscent of the acclaimed Silo series, with its claustrophobic, dystopian setting. In this post-flooding world, residents of a towering structure are divided into three classes based on wealth: Uppers, Midders, and Lowers. |
When a mysterious leak threatens the tower, Yekini, a midder data analyst; Tuoyo, a lower engineer; and Ngozi, an upper bureaucrat, must work together to uncover the truth. But what they find is far more dangerous than structural damage: a vengeful mythological force lurking in the water. To survive, they must confront both the threat and the corruption keeping the Lowers trapped in terrible living conditions. |
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Book Community Interview |
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What Nnamdi Ehirim has learned from writing novels |
We love talking to authors and getting to know them beyond their books. In today’s issue, we speak with Nnamdi Ehirim, author of Prince of Monkeys and The Brevity of Beautiful Things. |
He talks about finding his footing across different writing forms, the unexpected luck behind his first novel’s international reception, and the personal experiences that contributed to his second book. He also reflects on how his understanding of friendship and conflict has changed over time. |
Before publishing your novels, you wrote short stories, essays, and articles across different platforms. Has moving between forms always been part of how you write? |
I’ve always been fluid with forms. My first writing was actually rap in secondary school, then short stories, before I eventually explored essays. In every instance, I started out imitating art that I enjoyed in that form before trying to tell my own stories in that form. |
I know I still have room for gradual, marginal improvements, but I believe I’ve figured out where my short stories and essays fit as a writer. With the novel form, I think I am only just arriving there. With forms like movie scripts and plays, I’m still experimenting and figuring them out; I still have a long way to go. |
Your first book, Prince of Monkeys, found an audience far beyond Nigeria, including a review in The New York Times. What do you think allowed the story to travel so far, and what did that reception make you realize about your work as a writer? |
Half of it is: it’s incredible, visual prose. That’s what I truly believe and also what a lot of the positive reviews of it speak to. I had readers from across the world reach out to say they felt like they experienced Nigerian living through it, which is what I intended to achieve with it. |
The other half is incredible luck. Great writing aside, there were a handful of lucky events, all the way from my publication to my New York Times review, getting an agent, and being invited to global festivals that I may not be able to replicate even if I paid money for it. Ultimately, the first book experience gave me the audacity to write on my own terms without pandering to perceptions or trends. |
The Brevity of Beautiful Things has a different theme from Prince of Monkeys. What draws you to themes? |
Prince of Monkeys is more imaginative, while The Brevity of Beautiful Things is steeped in realism. I wanted to explore how individual perspective and the concept of extending grace shaped friendships and the ways we approach conflict. |
I was at a point in my life where I was transitioning from friendships of proximity in the early years of my life to friendships of shared values. It was less about me seeking understanding and more about seeking catharsis. |
Which character stayed with you the most while writing, and did your relationship with that character change as the story developed? |
Iman, because she’s audacious in a way I find aspirational. Also, Faramade, because in spite of everything life throws at him, he finds a way to survive and move forward. They both stayed with me so much that I wrote standalone short stories on how their journeys continued over a year after the book was published. |
Looking back at The Brevity of Beautiful Things now, is there anything about the book or its characters that you understand differently from when you were writing it? |
I was very kumbaya in my approach to conflict at the time. These days, I love the people I love, but I also understand there’s a time and place for just cutting people off, and I’m a lot more comfortable with that. |
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Backlist Gem |
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This week’s gem is Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, a stage play authored by South African playwright Athol Fugard and actors John Kani and Winston Ntshona in 1972. The play was popular amongst Nigerian secondary school students in the 1990s and early 2000s. |
Context: Fugard is a playwright whose theatre works challenged apartheid. He famously co-created and workshopped scripts like Sizwe Banzi Is Dead (1972) and The Island (1973) alongside Black actors John Kani and Winston Ntshona. He was globally recognized for his work and received a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2011. |
Origin: The story starts with a photographer, Styles, whose new customer, Sizwe Banzi, asks him to take a picture to send as a portrait to his wife under a false identity. Sizwe had left home for work but faced deportation because his passbook wasn't properly stamped. |
While thinking of what to do next, he and his friend went out for a drink and stumbled upon a dead body with a valid passbook. Piecing two and two together, they agreed that Sizwe would take up the dead man's identity to get a job. However, in a bid for survival, he now has to live under a false identity and inform his family that the man they knew is effectively dead. |
Why Read: This play shows the effects of systemic oppression and the desperation people can be led to to keep living, surviving, and striving. |
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New Release Round-Up |
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š 6 years after A Broken Playlist, Chimeka Garricks is releasing another book |
Six years after A Broken Playlist, Chimeka Garricks is returning with A Prayer for Wolves, his third book, scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2027. Set in Zalma, a town in north-central Nigeria, the novel follows twin brothers Isaiah and Ezekiel, raised by a religious father and their loving American mother. |
As religious violence tears through the region, the brothers grow up and choose different paths. Years later, a man confesses to murder in Tulsa, Oklahoma, recounting how he went from being a preacher’s son and a sheep raised among wolves to becoming one himself. |
šNLNG announces winner of 2026 Prize for Literature |
Ogaga Ifowodo has won the $100,000 prize at the 22nd edition of the Nigeria Prize for Literature for his poetry collection, Why Does God Need a Gun?, selected from 223 entries. |
In the Science and Innovation category, Mary-Brenda Akoda won for creating GenScan. The Creative Arts category, introduced this year, had joint winners: Peter Oghenetega Oke for Beyond Tarkwa Bay and Feranmi Abiola for Mara Mania. |
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Quote of the Week |
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“It might be difficult at first. The world might be too loud or too silent. It might be neon bright or pitch black, but slowly, it’ll put itself back together. It will resemble something normal. Then, you’ll see the colors, Salama.” Excerpt from As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow |
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| Zoulfa Katouh |
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Today’s quote was brought to you by one of our community members, Amonimo Ikeoluwa š |
Drop your favourite quote, line, or passage from a recent read: reply to this email or click here. We'll feature it in the next issue! |
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This or That? |
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Which sci-fi do you prefer to read? |
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Share your thoughts by replying to this email or click here, and we'll feature your answer in the next issue! |
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Did you enjoy this? Share with a friend! |
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Today’s issue was brought to you by Shalom Tewobola and Ikeoluwa Amonimo. |
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