Pausing to introduce my latest read:
Hadithi & The State of Black Speculative Fiction by Eugen Bacon & Milton Davis.
Hadithi is a wonderful read and highly recommended, for all interested in expanding the vision of speculative fiction through an engagement of diverse voices, as crisp, clear and attentive as these two authors, both with heritage in the African diaspora. Opening with a scholarly dialogue, an interesting discussion ensues about the uniqueness of genre-bending speculative fiction, the diversity of voices contributing from the indigenous and the diaspora, the powerful blend of own voice narrative, and the state of black speculative fiction complete with recommendations that went straight onto my ‘to read’ list.
“Until black speculative fiction is normalised, there’s much work to be done.”
Following this non-fiction discussion came an intriguing collection of short stories all woven through various sub-genres.
Still She Visits by Eugen Bacon – Segomotsi is 7,000 miles away from her homeland, Botswana, while her sister, Mokgosi, visits often, arriving like an African daisy: radiant, luminescent and big in bloom. As Segomotsi feels her way through the entanglements of sisterly love, she is left facing the stark truths of grief.
The Water’s Memory by Eugen Bacon – the story of Adaeze and Aloyse shares the joy of their marriage, the sadness of Adaeze’s passing, and a funeral of dancing feet celebrating death as they would life. It’s a reminder of the fragility of life, the strength we strive to find for one another, and the understanding of how love can reach into those silences.
Baba Klep by Eugen Bacon – Clyde and Revita crash land into a post-apocalyptic African landscape, each wearing their cleft lip with differing portrayals: for Clyde it displays the inconvenient physical pain; for Revita, it is part of her strength and beauty. On a quest to create a new, sustainable solution for the landscape, Revita’s shrewd intelligence and knowledge brings the landscape to life with the sound of locusts and birds showing the way to water, and a crude irrigation system watering an array of crops: maize, peas, cassava, bananas, beans, sweet potatoes and millet.
Ancestry by Eugen Bacon – a short story delivered like a short, sharp shock. Aptly exploring the marginalisation of women and girls in patriarchy societies, justice brought like a punch in the gut… from a vampire.
Carnival by Milton Davis – Antwon steps out into an inventive futuristic world of holoscreens, dancing tattoos, and rideout aerial traffic transporting him to the ultimate destination – Carnival, for a ‘fleeking’ good time.
And Down South by Milton Davis – Roscoe, originally from Alabama and now chauffeur to Miss Liza, agrees to journey back down south to find Miss Liza’s lost child. He finds lodgings in a local juke joint, an atmospheric place, the air heavy with a ‘wetland organic aroma’, and the sound of raucous laughter against a strumming guitar. But the danger of the times is never far away, making for an edge-of-your-seat read that makes the ending all the more satisfying.
The Swarm by Milton Davis – Famara, a warrior for the elders, journeys into the barren lands of the Sahel, where he sets up his makeshift lab. He soon discovers that the ground isn’t merely sand. The locust apocalypse is underway, but nothing is as it seems.
A truly exciting collection delivered through a refreshing lens.
What are you reading?
