The shortlist for the African Speculative Fiction Society’s Nommo Awards 2024 was announced on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. The Nommo Awards celebrate science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction. Since 2016, the event has been an annual affair celebrating writers in the categories of Best Speculative Novel by an African, Best Speculative Novella by an African, Best Speculative Short Story by an African, and Best Graphic Novel/Comic by an African.

Nommo laurels have been clinched by Nnedi Okorafor, Tade Thompson, Akwaeke Emezi, Tochi Onyebuchi, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Nana Akosua Hanson, Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald, Innocent Chizaram Ilo, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Wole Talabi, Nerine Dorman, T. L. Huchu, Pemi Aguda, among others.

The shortlist for the 2024 edition is as follows:

Novel

Bones and Runes, Stephen Embleton (Abibiman Publishing, 2022)

Dazzling, Chikodili Emelumadu (Hachette; Wildifre, Headline Publishing Group, 2023)

Don’t Answer when They Call Your Name, Ukamaka Olisakwe (Masobe Books, 2023)

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Olabufon, Wole Talabi (Gollancz and DAW Books, 2023)

Vagabonds!, Eloghosa Osunde (Harper Collins; 4th Estate and Riverhead Books, 2022)

Warrior of the Wind, Suyi Davies Okungbowa (Orbit Books, 2023)

Novella

Broken Paradise, Eugen Bacon (Luna Press Publishing, 2023)

Land of the Awaiting Birth, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and Joshua Uchenna Omenga (from Between Dystopias: The Road to Afropantheology, SF & Fantasy, 2023)

The Lies of the Ajungo, Moses Ose Utomi (Tordotcom/Masobe, 2023)

Undulation, Stephen Embleton (from Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology, 2023)

Short Story

A Name is a Plea and a Prophecy, Gabrielle Emem Harry (Strange Horizons 14 August, 2023)

Blackwater Children, Moustapha Mbacké Diop (Haven Speculative Fiction, Issue 7, Nov 2022)

Destiny Delayed, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki (Asimov’s Science Fiction, Vol 46, May/June, 2022) Kɛrozin Lamp Kurfi by Victor Forna (Apex Magazine, 2023)

Like Stars Daring to Shine, Somto Ihezue (Fireside Fiction, July 2022)

Loom, Solomon Uhiara (Dark Matter Magazine No. 8, 2022)

My Mother’s Love, Naomi Eselojor (Hexagon Issue 10 / Fall, 2022)

Osimiri, Chinaza Eziaghighala (Fission #2: Volume 1, An Anthology of Stories from the British Science Fiction Association, BSFA & HWS Press, 2022)

The Way of Baa’gh, Cheryl S. Ntumy (Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology, Android Press, 2023)

Graphic Novel

Die Strandloper, Daniël Hugo (Dream Press & Daniël Hugo, 2022)

Grimm’s Assistant, Mamode Ogbewele (Mode Comics, 2023)

WindMaker volume 1, Roye Okupe, Sunkanmi Akinboye, Toyin Ajetunmobi and Godwin Akpan (Dark Horse Comics, 2022)

The winners will be announced at a yet-to-be-disclosed venue and date.

The yearly geek event is Nigeria’s most prominent, and this year promises to grow with more to showcase, and inspire.

By Mariam Abdullahi

The most-anticipated geek event in Nigeria, the Lagos Comic Convention, is set for a return. With just 10 days left, the one-day extravaganza will take place at Landmark Event Centre from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, the 23rd of September, 2023. As always, a star-studded list of Nigerian creators will be in attendance, with most of the companies and studios already billed to appear, or have a major corporate presence.

The attendance count for this remarkable event continues to grow each year, and GeekAfrique will update you on that as the figures become available. The prediction is that this year will be huge, as Nigeria continues to feature prominently on the global pop culture scene.

The theme for this year’s convention involves the rise of AI and concerns around its use, so it is bound to be interesting.

A short statement on the event’s official website reads: “Attending LCC is an exhilarating and unforgettable experience! Make the most of your weekend in Lagos, play and cosplay your way through the city with a variety of things to do. It’s time to get your geek on! We’re looking forward to welcoming you again to this edition of Lagos comic [convention].”

The attendance count for this remarkable event continues to grow each year, and GeekAfrique will update you on that as the figures become available. The prediction is that this year will be huge, as Nigeria continues to feature prominently on the global pop culture scene.

You can buy tickets in advance HERE.

It caught many by surprise when it was announced at WonderCon that Image Comics imprint Syzygy will publish a graphic novel for director Francis Ford Coppola’s long-gestating science fiction film ‘Megalopolis’. Chris Ryall, co-founder of Syzygy, will create the book with artist Jacob Phillips.

Ryall describes the project as being “very much its own thing” from the film.

The movie, which finished filming earlier this month, follows a woman who becomes torn between her father, the Mayor of New York, and her lover, an architect with visionary plans for the city.

Ryall, via Popverse, said Coppola pitched the project. “The exciting thing is that I’ve only worked directly with him on this,” he says. “This isn’t the kind of thing where he licensed out the material — the movie and the book are solely his. We spent a few hours in Atlanta last month talking about not only this graphic novel but the childhood comics he loved, and all the way along, he’s been permissive and encouraging in telling us to make the book very much its own thing. So it’s been a kind of stunning arrangement, to get to work directly with someone of his stature on something like this.”

Ryall added: “As a huge fan of not only Jacob’s color work on the Ed Brubaker/Sean Phillips graphic novels but certainly also the amazing art and colors on his ‘That Texas Blood’ series, getting to work with Jacob while he’s on such a creative roll is also a thrill. Gonna be fun to build this particular corner of Francis’s new city.”

The book, like the movie, does not have a release date yet.