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Ayodele Arigbabu sets up a workshop for Lagos 2060 and that inspires Mazi Nwonwu, who attends Farafina disconsolately until Binyavanga Wainaina tells him that he loves SF and suggests that Mazi should set up a portal; and then Ayo and Tade Thompson encourage him; and meanwhile Farafina puts together an anthology and for it, Chinelo Onwualu edits Mazi’s story and gets in touch and says, “I’m a fan too”; and they and the Nerds all meet in Abuja and so Omenana is born; and since both Chinelo and Mazi had stories in AfroSF, and Ivor Hartmann wanted people to interact, they therefore have the email addresses of the other contributors so they are able to get name writers to contribute to issue one; and so Farafina asks Mazi to give a talk each year to the workshop so that writers like Edwin Okolo are also inspired to write SFF now that there’s a place that publishes it, and so the writers get feedback and validation—not to mention the exacting editorial input of that taskmaster Chinelo Onwualu—so that Mazi is able to say in 2016 how much better writers like Suyi Davies are getting, how the whole field is getting better.

Or it could be the guys in Nairobi pulling together Jalada, or the folk behind Saraba, or Brittle Paper, or Imagine Africa 500 or Femrite or Writivism.

Per literas ad astra.

Literature is not a form or forms—those are the outputs. Some people use “literature” to mean anything written that’s really good. But there is no present-day Aristotle, let alone a dominant culture. There is no authoritative aesthetic. We all get to say what is beautiful and why, so “literature” in that sense, in my opinion, is a self-aggrandizing way of saying you like something.

For me, literature is a social process that produces and then appreciates written work. We all play different roles at different times as readers, fans, writers, editors, publishers, critics, commentators, even agents or journalists ... and back again.

It’s a circular, self-reinforcing process—and at its strongest it resembles a whirlwind.

Next in Part Ten, I take a van (see photo below) and a plane to Abuja where I talk to Chinelo Onwualu, Odafe Atogun, and Vivian Ogbonna.

Odafe Atogun, Geoff Ryman, Chinelo Onwualu – V for Victory



Geoff Ryman is Senior Lecturer in School of Arts, Languages and Cultures at the University of Manchester. He is a writer of short stories and novels, and science fiction and literary fiction. His work has won numerous awards including the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award (twice), the James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, the British Science Fiction Association Award (twice), and the Canadian Sunburst Award (twice). In 2012 he won a Nebula Award for his Nigeria-set novelette "What We Found." His story "Capitalism in the 22nd Century" is part of Stories for Chip, edited by Bill Campbell and Nisi Shawl and published by Rosarium.
Current Issue
22 Apr 2024

We’d been on holiday at the Shoon Sea only three days when the incident occurred. Dr. Gar had been staying there a few months for medical research and had urged me and my friend Shooshooey to visit.
...
Tu enfiles longuement la chemise des murs,/ tout comme d’autres le font avec la chemise de la mort.
The little monster was not born like a human child, yelling with cold and terror as he left his mother’s womb. He had come to life little by little, on the high, three-legged bench. When his eyes had opened, they met the eyes of the broad-shouldered sculptor, watching them tenderly.
Le petit monstre n’était pas né comme un enfant des hommes, criant de froid et de terreur au sortir du ventre maternel. Il avait pris vie peu à peu, sur la haute selle à trois pieds, et quand ses yeux s’étaient ouverts, ils avaient rencontré ceux du sculpteur aux larges épaules, qui le regardaient tendrement.
We're delighted to welcome Nat Paterson to the blog, to tell us more about his translation of Léopold Chauveau's story 'The Little Monster'/ 'Le Petit Monstre', which appears in our April 2024 issue.
For a long time now you’ve put on the shirt of the walls,/just as others might put on a shroud.
Issue 15 Apr 2024
By: Ana Hurtado
Art by: delila
Issue 8 Apr 2024
Issue 1 Apr 2024
Issue 25 Mar 2024
By: Sammy Lê
Art by: Kim Hu
Issue 18 Mar 2024
Strange Horizons
Issue 11 Mar 2024
Issue 4 Mar 2024
Issue 26 Feb 2024
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