Next month, Jembefola Press is publishing the first “year’s best” anthology of African speculative fiction. Edited by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction collects twenty-nine stories by twenty-five writers, which the press describes as “some of the most exciting voices, old and new, from Africa and the diaspora, published in the 2020 year.”
The press revealed the cover and table of contents this morning.
Here’s Ekpeki’s tweet showing the cover:
So I'm happy to announce the first ever Year's Best African Speculative Fiction anthology. It is edited by yours truly and out under @JembefolaPress. 😇
Peep the cover below.
TOC and other notable works we loved: https://t.co/vVId8U4Mxg
pre-order https://t.co/YNlAnbW7wQ pic.twitter.com/Pveo8QpRNv— Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (@Penprince_) August 16, 2021
The anthology includes stories from Somto O. Ihezue, Pemi Aguda, Russell Nichols, Tamara Jerée, Tlotlo Tsamaase, Sheree Renée Thomas, Tobias S. Buckell, Inegbenoise O. Osagie, Tobi Ogundiran, Chinelo Onwualu, Moustapha Mbacké Diop, Marian Denise Moore, Michelle Mellon, C.L. Clark, Eugen Bacon, Craig Laurence Gidney, Makena Onjerika, T.L. Huchu, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, Derek Lubangakene, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Shingai Njeri Kagunda, WC Dunlap, ZZ Claybourne, and Dilman Dila. As Ekpeki notes, the announcement also includes a list of twenty-one additional notable stories from 2020—an excellent further reading list once you’ve finished the book.
Ekpeki is the author of “The Witching Hour,” which won a 2019 Nommo award, and the co-editor of two other forthcoming anthologies: the nonfiction collection Bridging Worlds: Global Conversations on Creating Pan-African Speculative Literature in a Pandemic (with Zelda Knight) and the speculative fiction collection Africa Risen (with Zelda Knight and Sheree Renée Thomas).
The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction will be published on September 21, 2021. It’s currently available to pre-order in ebook form; on Twitter, Ekpeki noted that it will also be available in print closer to release date.
