The 2022 winners of the African Speculative Fiction Society’s Nommo Awards were announced today in a ceremony held during Chicon 8. The Awards were hosted by Sheree Renée Thomas and presented by previous winners Chikodili Emelumadu, Wole Talabi and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki.

The African Speculative Fiction Society, composed of professional and semiprofessional African writers, editors, publishers, graphic artists and film makers, was founded in 2016. Members of the African Speculative Fiction Society nominate the short list and then vote for the winners in each category. 

The host for the Awards, Sheree Renée Thomas said of African speculative writing, “What makes African speculative writing distinctive is not just a matter of geography for in the African novel, the continent and her nations are not merely a setting to serve as an accessory to the storytelling but the people, their communities and their cultures are an essential foundation from which the writing springs.”

All of these works are speculative fiction, published between January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021, and are by Africans as defined by the ASFS and Nommo Awards Guidelines. This is the sixth year that the Nommo Awards have been given, prize money sponsored by Tom Ilube CBS.  This is the first year that a panel of readers have contributed to the selection.

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.

NOVEL

• The Library Of The Dead by T. L. Huchu (Tor Books 2021)

NOVELLA

• Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor (Tor/Forge, Tordotcom, 2021)

SHORT STORY

• “Masquerade Season” by ‘Pemi Aguda (tor.com, March 2021)

GRAPHIC NOVEL

• Iyanu: Child Of Wonder Vol 2 — Roye Okupe, Godwin Akpan (YouNeek Studios/Dark Horse Comic)