rounding out the event-dense CMJ week here in Nueva York: Bajah & Dry Eye from Sierra Leone, Jahdan Blakkamoore and Matt Shadetek from planet Dutty, Zakee Kuduro, and more, this Saturday, Brooklyn…
also, I just read a book called Evolution’s Shore, about an alien ecosystem near Mt Kilimanjaro. Bad cover art, good book! I’ve read some quality sci-fi set in Africa, but no sci-fi written by Africans. Any recommendations?
& remember, Africans are real!
Not from Africa proper, but Nisi Shawl is great sci-fi writer in the short fiction format. She is also one of few female, black sci-fi writers working in the genre today.
I recommend Octavia Butler and Samuel R. Delany. Start with Delany’s ‘aye, and gomorrah’ or ‘Dahlgren’.
Enjoy,
Christophe
I honestly can’t think of any African sci-fi writers (I saw your question on Twitter and googled it and came up with nothing–I was wondering if perhaps there would be a white South African writer of note, but I don’t see any evidence of that either.) Here is a link discussing some African sci-fi by non-Africans (I recommend staying away from Steven Barnes btw). I’ve not read any of the books listed, but I’d be surprised if any of them is a patch on Stand On Zanzibar (or even Ian McDonald):
http://appfrica.net/blog/2009/09/08/in-search-of-african-sci-fi-novels/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=in-search-of-african-sci-fi-novels
Octavia Butler, Brunner’s Stand on Zanzibar and Samuel R Delany are THE BEST! but, alas, none are African…
I haven’t read Nisi Shawl – thanks for the tip!