In this Part you will meet two writers both connected to the University of Rhodes in Grahamstown, South Africa. One is a Nigerian living in South Africa with strong views of both countries. The other is an avant-gardist who worked on the field-changing 2008 double issue of
Chimurenga–and whose speculative story was nominated for the 2018 Caine Prize. Inspired by her, there is also included an informal list of African SFF writers who write in French—a work in progress.
You can read through the whole chapter by following the “next” links at the end of each interview, or jump to a specific interview by using the links below. You can always return to this chapter index by clicking on the “100 African Writers of SF—Part Twelve” link at the top of each interview, and return to the overall project index by clicking on the 100 African category, or clicking
here.
Chapter Thirteen will talk to other African Writers who work abroad—The Travellers.
“I was in Uganda teaching a writing workshop and I met Idi Amin’s grandson. He’s an artist. We got talking about his grandfather—what he was like. About a year after that, I read about a woman who used to be Adolf Hitler’s food taster, now about 90 years old. And I thought, wow. That really fascinated me. I wanted to writer about her, but in Africa? Where in Africa? Uganda.”
“There’s a young generation coming out. They’re taking risks, they’re taking chances, they’re experimenting. they’re brave, they’re bold, they’re reading. I’m incredibly hopeful for South Africa based on the young people. They’re fiery, they’re politicised. There is a whole generation coming.”
French Language Authors for English Readers.
Terminology matters to me. If you define a term as being about one set of people, it may by that definition exclude others.
