The African Speculative Fiction Society has released the 2020 longlist for the Nommo Awards for African Speculative Fiction.

The African Speculative Fiction Society, composed of professional and semiprofessional African writers, editors, publishers, graphic artists and film makers, was founded in 2016.

The Nommos were presented for the first time in 2017. The awards are named for twins from Dogon cosmology who take a variety of forms, including appearing on land as fish, walking on their tails.

The long lists consist of all titles in their respective categories that were nominated by members of the ASFS. All works are speculative fiction, were published between January 1, 2018 – December 31 2019, and are thought to be by Africans as defined by the ASFS and Nommo Awards Guidelines. Some of these works were nominated once, some just missed the shortlist.  The ASFS lists them in full to draw attention to all the works members felt worthy of consideration.

A short list of about five works in each category will be announced in mid May and ASFS members will then vote.  The winners will be announced at an online ceremony some time this autumn.

2020 NOVEL LONG LIST

• Akwaeke Emezi — PET (Faber and Faber)
• Eugen Bacon — CLAIMING T-MO (Meerkat Press)
• Frank Owen — NORTH (Penguin Random House South Africa)
• Lauri Kubuitsile — BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL (Penguin Random House South Africa)
• Masande Ntshanga — TRIANGULUM (Penguin Random House South Africa)
• Mary Watson — THE WICKERLIGHT (Bloomsbury)
• Mary Watson — THE WREN HUNT (Bloomsbury)
• Myles Ojabo — BLACK RIVER (Dafel Books)
• Namwali Serpell — THE OLD DRIFT (Penguin Random House/Vintage/Hogarth)
• Nerine Dorman — SING DOWN THE STARS (Tafelberg)
• Nerine Dorman — THE COMPANY OF BIRDS (Immanion Press)
• Rachael A.Z. Mutabingwa — KUNDA (Zaaz Press) free on Kindle
• Suyi Davies Okungbowa — DAVID MOGO, GODHUNTER (Simon and Schuster)
• Tade Thompson — ROSEWATER REDEMPTION (Orbit)
• Tade Thompson — ROSEWATER INSURRECTION (Orbit)
• T C Farren — THE BOOK OF MALACHI (Kwela)
• Temi Oh — DO YOU DREAM OF TERRA TWO? (Simon and Schuster)
• Toby Bennet — THE MUSIC BOX (Tafelberg)
• Tochi Onyebuchi — WAR GIRLS (Razorbill Penguin Group)
• Tomi Adeyemi — CHILDREN OF VIRTUE AND VENGEANCE (Macmillan Publishers/Henry Holt and Co.)
• Yolandie Horak — A STUDY OF ASH & SMOKE

NOVELS NOMINATED BUT NOT ELIGIBLE

• Evan Winters — A RAGE OF DRAGONS – first published in 2017
• Mugabi Byenkya — DEAR PHILOMENA – first published 2017 (Discovery Diversity Publishing)
• Tochi Onyebuchi — RIOT BABY – published 2020 (Tom Doherty/Tor.com)
• Tomi Adeyemi — CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE – Shortlisted 2019 (Macmillan Publishers/Henry Holt and Co.)

2020 NOVELLA LONG LIST

• Bill Masuku — MISFORTUNISM (Sera Blue Books)
• Bill Masuku — PSYCHOPHAGY (Sera Blue Books)
• Caldon Mull — WEATHERMAN (Caldon Mull)
• Caldon Mull — TERRAFORM TRIPTYCH (Caldon Mull)
• C L Corona — HIGH TOWER GODS (Amazon Digital Services)
• Cat Hellisen — EVEN WHEN THE WORLD HAS TOLD US WE HAVE ENDED (ebook)
• Kerstin Hall — THE BORDER KEEPER (Tor.com)
• Unathi Slasha — JAH HILLS (Black Ghost Books) — NB: copyright 2017, published 2018
• Wole Talabi — INCOMPLETENESS THEORIES — (single-author anthology, INCOMPLETE SOLUTIONS, Luna Press)

2020 SHORT STORY LONG LIST

• Acan Innocent Immaculate — SONG BIRD (Brittle Paper and Go the Way Your Blood Beats, anthology edited by Anathi Jongilanga, Brittle Paper)
• Ada Nnadi — TINY BRAVERY (Omenana)
• Ama Josephine Budge — A SHOAL OF LOVERS LEADS ME HOME (Anathema Magazine)
• Ayodele Olufintuade — THE STORM PAINTER (Strange Horizons)
• Caldon Mull REFUGIA — (Omenana)
• Chikodili Emelumadu — SIN EATER (Omenana)
• Chinelo Onwualu — WHAT THE DEAD MAN SAID (Slate.com)
• Dare Segun Falowo — VAIN KNIFE (The Dark Magazine)
• Deji Bryce Olukotun — BETWEEN THE DARK AND THE DARK (Lightspeed)
• Ekari Mbvundula — THE BLUE BALL (Story Ink Africa)
• Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald — IFE-IYOKU (Selene Quarterly)
• Eugen Bacon — A PINING (StylusLit),
• Eugen Bacon — THE DAY CHIVALRY DIED (AntipodeanSF),
• Eugen Bacon — A GOOD BALL (Other Terrain Journal); (the three Bacon stories are from the single-author anthology DYING AND OTHER STORIES)
• Hannah Onoguwe — WHERE THE PALM NUT GROWS (Timeworn Literary Journal)
• Haku Jackson — THE SILENT GOD (Omenana)
• Imade Iyamu — ODUDUWA: THE RETURN (in anthology YOUNG EXPLORERS ADVENTURE GUIDE VOL 6 edited by Corie and Sean Weaver, Dreaming Robot Press)
• Innocent Chizaram Ilo — FEMALE COMPUTER WANTED APPLY WITHIN (Fireside Fiction)
• Innocent Chizaram Ilo — RED CROWS (Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores)
• Ivana Akotowaa Ofori — PRINCIPLES OF BALANCE (Jalada)
• Kathleen Kayembe — THE OCEAN THAT FADES INTO SKY (Lightspeed)
• Keletso Mopai — BECOMING A GOD (from the single-author anthology IF YOU KEEP DIGGING, Jacana Media) (Omenana)
• Keletso Mopai – FOURTEEN (from single-author anthology IF YOU KEEP DIGGING, Jacana Media)
• Kofi Nyameye — THE LIGHTS GO OUT ONE BY ONE (Asimovs Science Fiction)
• Lesley Arimah — SKINNED (McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern)
• Mame Bougouma Diene — ANOTHER DAY IN THE DESERT (EscapePod)
• Mame Bougouma Diene — THE LAST OF HER KIND (Omenana)
• Mandisi Nkomo — DROPZONE (Mandisi Nkomo)
• Mohale Mashigo – MUTSHIDZI (anthology A WORLD OF HORROR edited by Eric J Guignard, Dark Moon Books)
• Nick Wood — A MILLION REASONS WHY (from single-author collection LEARNING MONKEY AND CROCODILE, Luna Press)
• Nikhil Singh — THE RE-EVOLUTION OF CLOUD 9 (from anthology THE UNQUIET DREAMER: A TRIBUTE TO HARLAN ELLISON edited by Preston Grassman, PS Publishing)
• Olufunke Ogundimu — IN-BETWEEN (Jalada)
• Ope Adedeji — AFTER THE BIRDS (McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern)
• Osahon Ize-Iyamu — FLAGS FLYING BEFORE A FALL (Strange Horizons)
• Osahon Ize-Iyamu — IN THE GARDEN WATCHING NIM-NOMS (Omenana)
• Osahon Ize-Iyamu — WHO HAS NEVER LOVED A GENTLE HOUSE? (Strange Horizons)
• Osahon Ize-Iyamu — THEREIN LIES A SOUL (The Dark Magazine)
• ‘Pemi Aguda — MANIFEST 11 (Granta)
• ‘Pemi Aguda — 24 ALHAJI WILLIAMS STREET (Zoetrope)
• Rafeeat Aliyu — WHERE THE RAIN MOTHERS ARE (Strange Horizons)
• Rafeif Ismail — SOMETHING LIKE REVOLUTION (Meanjin Quarterly)
• Shingai Kagunda — HOLDING ON TO WATER (Omenana)
• Stephen Embleton — THE GIRL WITH TWO BODIES (Kalahari Review)
• Suyi Davies Okungbowa — THE HAUNTING OF 13 OLÚWO STREET (Fireside)
• Suyi Davies Okungbowa — A LIGHT FOR THE DARK UNDER (Brick Moon) (also in the anthology IT STARTS WITH A HEIST (Brick Moon)
• Tariro Ndoro — A TALE OF TWO SISTERS (anthology HOTEL AFRICA, Short Story Day Africa)
• Tariro Ndoro — THE CURE (in NOWHEREVILLE: WEIRD IS OTHER PEOPLE, Broken Eye Books)
• T L Huchu — CORIALIS (Fiyah)
• Tiah Marie Beautement — THE AMERICAN REFUGEE (Cast of Wonders Podcast)
• Tobi Ogundiran — FAÊL (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
• Wole Talabi — WHEN WE DREAM WE ARE OUR GOD (Apex Magazine and ALL BORDERS ARE TEMPORARY, TrAP Magazine)
• Wole Talabi — ABEOKUTA52 (Omenana)
• Wole Talabi — TENDS TO ZERO (in NOWHEREVILLE: WEIRD IS OTHER PEOPLE, Broken Eye Books)

SHORT STORIES LONG LISTED BUT NOT ELIGIBLE

• Blaize Kaye — BRAND NEW WAYS TO LOSE YOU OVER AND OVER – short listed 2019 (Omenana)
• Dare Segun Falowo — NGOZI UGEGBE NWA – published 2020 (The Dark Magazine)
• Derek Lubangakene — ORIGAMI ANGELS – not eligible shortlisted 2019 (Omenana)
• Henrietta Rose-Innes — LIMERENCE – first published 2016 (Some Such Stories)
• Innocent Chizaram Ilodianya — RAT AND FINCH ARE FRIENDS – published 2020 (Strange Horizons)
• Tiah Marie Beautement — MOMENTO MORI – shortlisted 2019 (Omenana)
• T L Huchu NJUZU – shortlisted 2019 (first published in AfroSFV3 edited by Ivor W. Hartmann and in the Johannesburg Review of Books)

2020 GRAPHIC NOVEL LONG LIST

• BEAST FROM VENUS — (Avandu Vosi) Kiprop Kimutai (author) and Salim Busuru (artist)
• BLACKMOON (Comic Republic) — Tobe Max Ezeogu (author) and Tobe Max Ezeogu, Tobe Ezeogu, Ozo Ezeogu, Kelechi Isaac (artists)
• CAPTAIN SOUTH AFRICA Part 1: Origins (Enigma Comix) — Bill Masuku (author and artist)
• DANFO (TAG Comics) — Morakinyo Araoye, and Steven Akinyemi (authors) Ogim Ekpezu (artist)
• HAWI (Etan Comics)– Beserat Debebe (author) and Stanley Obende (artist)
• IYANU CHILD OF WONDER (YouNeek Studios) — Roye Okupe (author) and Godwin Akpan (artist)
• JEMBER (Etan Comics) — Beserate Dbebe (author) and Stanley Obende (artist)
• KAMI (Mira Hirwa publisher) — Mika Hirwa (author and artist)
• MOONGIRLS (Drama Queens Gh) — Akosua Hanson, Suhaidatu Dramani, George Hanson, Tsiddi (authors) and AnimaxFYB Studios (artists)
• LAND OF GODS: ORUN (Vortex Comics) — Kevin Sampong and Somto Ajuluchukwu (authors) Gemahel Kamgain (art)
• NANI (Kugali Comics) — Ziki Nelson (author) Jasonas Lamy (artist)
• SANU (Elupe Comics) — SSentogo Charles (author and artist)
• WELCOME TO DEAD WORLD (Sam Graphico Anthology) — Bill Masuku (author and artist)

GRAPHIC NOVELS NOMINATED NOT ELIGIBLE

• TATASHE — Cassandra Mark (author) and Tobe Max Ozeogu (Comic Republic) shortlisted 2019.
• ROVIK — Yvonne Waniyoke (author) and Salim Busuru (Avandu Vosi) shortlisted 2019.

[Thanks to Geoff Ryman for the story.]