Harare Review of Books, August 2023
Salibonani!
We’ve had another “fun” election here; still recovering, if one can.
Here’s a picture from a recent and very fun trip to Joburg:
An interview with Eugen Bacon!
In exciting news: The kindest and most obliging author, Eugen Bacon, author of Danged Black Thing, Serengotti, An Earnest Blackness, and numerous other works, answered some questions for HRB!
Eugen Bacon is an African Australian author of several novels and fiction collections. She’s a twice World Fantasy Award finalist, a British Fantasy Award finalist, a Foreword Book of the Year silver award winner, and was announced in the honor list of the 2022 Otherwise Fellowships for ‘doing exciting work in gender and speculative fiction’. Danged Black Thing by Transit Lounge Publishing was a finalist in the British Science Fiction Association, Foreword, Aurealis and Australian Shadows Awards, and made the Otherwise Award Honor List as a ‘sharp collection of Afro-Surrealist work’. Eugen’s creative work has appeared worldwide, including in Apex Magazine, Award Winning Australian Writing, Fantasy Magazine, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction. Eugen has two new novels, a novella and three anthologies (ed) out in 2023, including Serengotti, a novel, and the US release of Danged Black Thing.
Check out the interview here: An interview with Eugen Bacon
Recently on the blog
The Great Transition dares us to imagine a future where workers and ordinary people have retaken control of political power and of huge multinational companies, where these companies are run as co-ops; a world where there are “Half-Earth” agreements to protect the planet’s biomes, and only Indigenous people can live in those areas where nature is protected and thrives; where a small family is torn apart by the basic question of when we can be sure enough has been done to ensure the future. [More]
Shigidi is a nightmare god, humble and only slightly meh about his place in life. He works for a spirit company, and is on assignment when he bumps into a beautiful succubus (or, succubae). Nneoma, dangerous and independent, offers him the deal of a lifetime, which he takes—but they soon run into major trouble. Their way out is to steal—or, more correctly, to rescue—the brass head of Obalufon from the British Museum, and to bring it back to the powerful and semi-retired creator god, Olorun. As one might expect, things don’t go perfectly to plan, and we go on a romp with the couple through Lagos, Singapore, and London’s spirit-side to bring the artefact back home. [More]
In this, the sequel to Level Five, AIs have effectively taken over the world after nano-replicators killed two thirds of the global human population and destroyed large areas of the planet, mainly the largest cities. [More]
I was excited to read about black holes, wormholes, clones, giant insects (less so), propelling Earth through Space, smart spacesuits, AI and sentient ships (my favourite!), “terraforming” (it isn’t) on Mars (everyone knows The Mars Trilogy is in my top 2 and not 2), space elevators, and politics in space (a.k.a. yes: The Expanse). All of these topics are covered, and more. [More]
This is a nice collection of tiny essays on the mundanities and banalities of life—a glass of whisky, a folded album cover, passing smiles, a stolen turnip, washing the windows, and a lot more of that kind of thing. [More]
This collection of horror stories leans towards actual horror rather than the creepy or strange: the occult, body horror, child-eating and child death, graphic descriptions of zombies eating people, and the like. Also themes like rape and suicide. It’s really for those who have a taste for that kind of thing, so steer clear if you don’t. [More]
Happening in books
A note: Apologies; for technical reasons, this feed will now be hosted on my Notion site. The link will be up on Linktree soon. Please ignore the previous notice.
Check out the 2023 Caine Prize stories here: The Stories — The Caine Prize for African Writing
The Arab American National Museum announced the 2023 Arab American Book Awards (and one of my favourite books won!): [2023 Arab American Book Award Winners – Arab American National Museum
The 2023 Kweli International Literary Festival is still ongoing, until September 15. It’s a hyrbid festival. Check out details here: KWELI / Truth From the Diaspora's Boldest Voices
Keep this bookmarked, and keep checking back for this year’s new releases: Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2023, Part Two ‹ Literary Hub
In the same vein: Most Anticipated: The Great 2023B Book Preview - The Millions
And of course: TBR for the second half of 2023 – shona reads
Are you curious about your country’s highest-rated book? Here’s a cool way to find out: Every Country’s Highest-Rated Book by a Local Author
Attended the virtual launch of Fatin Abbas’s Ghost Season from Jacaranda Books, with Fatin in conversation with Leila Aboulela. It was as moving as you might expect.
The Johannesburg Institute of Advanced Studies (JIAS) hosted a webinar with Prof. Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ on The African Literature Debate, which you can watch on YouTube here: The African Literature Debate
Here are the 2023 Kirkus Prize finalists on Literary Hub. The winners will be announced on October 11, 2023 (livestream will be here: YouTube)
Craft
winniebell_zong tweeted about Alina Stefaescu’s creative writing resources, which you can find here: alina stefanescu, writer
Submissions
Dorothy, a publishing project, until Spetember 14, for your best and weirdest: About – Dorothy
Flame Tree Publishing, until Sept 17, for African stories featuring ghosts, creatures and spirits: African Ghost Short Stories | Call for Submissions
Not so many, because it was my birthday month; but they were all pretty good!
September releases I'm looking forward to
The young people would say the books don’t phel’.
Something to look out for; watch this space!
That's it for now. You can find HRB, and me, in all of the usual places: linktr.ee, on the blog, or, by replying to this email.
Take care!
St 💫
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"I don't like when I can't control what reality is doing. Which is unfortunate because reality works independently of the things I want, and I have only a limited number of ways to influence it, none of which are guaranteed to work."
From Hyperbole and a Half x Allie Brosh