Alvin Kathembe

Once again if you are not currently following @shingai-be-like.bsky.social , do so now

Visiting Ngara A redevelopment project in Nairobi’s Ngara district promises revival—but raises deeper questions about capital, memory, and who has the right to shape the city.

Ngara has always changed; it archives the evolution of Nairobi itself. So then what of the change brought by the urban renewal project unfolding in Ngara now? What is the real question behind the question of gentrification?

I wrote this for @africasacountry:
africasacountry.com/2026/02/visi...

My Top 10 African Short SFF Stories of 2025

Hey y’all! If you've been following this blog you probably know exactly what this is. At the start of every year, I make a list to highlight the African speculative fiction short stories I read and enjoyed the most from the previous year. This year,…

Award eligibility graphic for Shingai Kagunda’s 2025 short story published by Will This Be a Problem? The Anthology. The design is set on a dark blue background with subtle cosmic illustration and teal and orange accents. The title reads: Khaya Maseko | 2025 Award Eligibility – For Your Consideration The graphic lists Acceptance, published in Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V, January 2025. Main text reads: In this haunting story, a young girl learns a disturbing secret about those in power and ponders this truth as she grows up to be a journalist and becomes exhausted by reporting on the never-ending violence and exploitation in our society. Kagunda likens the vices of corruption, violence and war to parasitic creatures living under the skins of Kenyan politicians, transferred over to them by the white colonizers. A story that reminds readers about the importance of holding onto our stories, and of oral tradition.

Here’s what you need to know about @shingai-be-like.bsky.social's short fiction published in 2025. The Kenyan writer would appreciate your consideration in the relevant categories this award season. Link below.

#AfricanSFF 🪐📚💙

🥳🥳🥳🥳

The Preliminary Ballot of the Bram Stoker Awards - Superior Achievement in an Anthology Allingham, LCW and Eno, River - Vampire Hunters: An Incomplete Record of Personal Accounts (Speculation Publications) Armiento, Isabel ed. - One Bad Night & Other Stories (Aardvark Book Club) Bissett, Carina ed. - Fractured Reveries: A Storied Imaginarium Salon (Storied Imaginarium) Day, Julie C; Bissett, Carina; and Gidney, Craig Laurence eds. - Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology (Essential Dreams Press) Golden, Christopher and Keene Brian - The End Of The World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand (Gallery Books) Iheuze, Somto and Olivia Kidula (that's me!) - Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology (Shilitza Publishing) Kulski, Kristy Park - Silk and Sinew: A Collection of Folk Horror From The Asian Diaspora (Bad Hand Books) Murray, Lee and Jeffery, Dave — This Way Lies Madness: Stories from the Edge of Darkness (Flame Tree Publishing) Pascale, Elaine — Darkness Most Fowl (The Godmother of Horror Press) Ryan, Lindy and Wytovich, Stephanie M., ed. — HOWL: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women-in-Horror (Black Spot Books)

Wow please the scream I let out 😭 @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social The Anthology is on the Preliminary Ballot for the Bram Stoker Awards!

Peter Marco's artwork 'Grasps of The Forgotten' from WTBAP Issue 2 - a dark skinned woman sits on a bed seemingly distressed with one hand supporting her head. Behind her disembodied hands reach for her through the wall, and each wrist is adorned with the same bracelet that is on hers.

Thank you to all those who nominated 🤗🤗

Babies Don't Grow In People - Peter Nena
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/2025/07/10/b...

Grasps of The Forgotten - Peter Marco
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/wp-content/u...

Beyond excited to see the novelette and the artwork from @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social's Issue 2 on the BSFA long list!

Babies Don't Grow In People - Peter Nena (best shorter fiction)

Grasps of The Forgotten - Peter Marco (best artwork!)

Congratulations to everyone on the long list!

Publishers marketplace acquisition announcement for wole talabis next novel the fist of memory

Alright y'all. This is finally happening.

Beneath Ceaseless Skies - Into Duty, Into Longing, Into Sparrows by Somto Ihezue They put you in a room with the other girls—soon to be brides like yourself. Your aunties say it is tradition. They too were sealed in the room. So was your mother. So was her mother.

"Into Duty, Into Longing, Into Sparrows" by Somto Ihezue @somtoihezue.bsky.social, in Beneath Ceaseless Skies @bcsmagazine.bsky.social. I have yet to be disappointed by a Somto Ihezue story...

www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/into...

Thank you so much Sam✨

#Animorphs fans, a reminder!

As the series turns 30 this year, the first three books are being released with beautiful new cover art by @creepcaptain.bsky.social. Out May 5! Here's a link to book one: bookshop.org/p/books/anim...

Fantasy Magazine - issue 99 | Psychopomp Fantasy Magazine Issue 99 features work by: Nwuguru Chidiebere Sullivan, Malena Salazar Maciá, Eleanor Glewwe, Alex Jennings, Cory Farrenkopf, and M. L. Krishnan

issue 99 is nearly rolled-out! ✨

did you catch When You Hit the Poison Ivy Thicket, You’ve Gone Too Far by @coreyfarrenkopf.bsky.social?

or @arleysorg.bsky.social's conversation with Moniquill Blackgoose?

yours to read, just click on through!!

psychopomp.com/fantasy/issu...

We Begin Where Infinity Ends by Somto Ihezue Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

Here’s a link for friends who’d love to read it. Hope it brings you the joy it brought me🫶🏽✨

what's next for Psychopomp - PSYCHOPOMP.COM what to expect from Psychopomp (and The Deadlands and Fantasy Magazine) in 2026.

psychopomp.com/next/
Some news: Issue 99 of Fantasy will be the last issue... (For now)
Read our publisher, Sean's statement for more.
As heartbreaking as this news is, I'm incredibly proud of the work we've put out this year & I'm grateful for our team, esp. my co-editor @arleysorg.bsky.social!

A promotional graphic for Issue V of Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology. The background is a warm reddish-brown pattern with stylised shapes and the WTBAP logo at the top. Below it, large text reads “FREE TO ACCESS.” A short message states that Issue V is now available to read for year-end reading, awards eligibility and recommendations. At the centre is the book cover, featuring a man in an orange suit standing beneath a massive, otherworldly figure emerging from clouds. At the bottom is a green button-style banner with the website link.

All Issue V stories are now free to read on our website until December 12th!

Perfect for your end-of-year reading list and for readers who’d like to explore the incredible award-eligible works featured in our fifth anthology. Spread the word!

🔗 willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/issue-5/

#africansff

I mean, there are definitely worse morphs to get stuck in

Its SHIGIDI paperback release day, US & Canada! Its been a long, lovely journey but my award-winning novel about African gods on a supernatural heist at the British museum finally hits stores in a new format, with a new cover + a bonus short story! Get it y'all🙏🏾
Art by @stephenembleton.bsky.social

🥳🥳💪🏾

A young woman in a hijab sits on top of a pile of rubble, holding a camera in her hands.

humansony "At one point, I hated Gaza. I just wanted out. I wanted to study in America and be this big director. I wanted to win an Oscar. All my dreams were overseas. I think I was just mad at how besieged Gaza was-it limits you in so many ways. Some of the men here are so narrow minded. I wanted to throw them all out of Gaza so that they could see the world, and then bring them back, with different views, and different thoughts. But there's also a brilliance to the people here. Because it would take decades of research to learn what our trauma forces upon us at a very young age. You don't have the privilege of disassociating from reality. You cannot ignore this shit. The drones, the rubble, the blood, the children fighting for food and water. It's all around you. A white person living in Europe is able to say they don't care about politics, because they're not exposed to the firsthand effects. But if even one of the things that happen on a daily basis in Gaza, was to happen in the West, it would move nations. In political science class we used to learn about things like ethics, and human rights, and international law. But life in Gaza will teach you that these things are just propaganda. Propaganda that fooled us into believing that if only people knew what was going on, they'd stop it. It was this naive notion that led us, at least me and all of my friends, to film and document and speak and share on our stupid Instagrams. But I've lost the will. It's too exhausting. Everyone has disassociated from our reality. We have nothing to eat, but we have these phones. We get to watch our international friends going about their days normally. Who are we even talking to? You cannot rely on the conscience and moral compass of those in power. We've tried for so long. It doesn't work. You have to put pressure on them. You have to disrupt their systems. You have to move and mobilize and obstruct and protest and cost them things. It's the only thing they listen to. Life in Gaza…

Nour Alsaqqa is the communications officer for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Gaza. When I first decided to do this series, the MS main office warned me that the entire Palestinian staff was exhausted and traumatized. They told me: 'Let's try one interview and see how it goes.' By that, they meant: 'Let's try one interview and see what Nour decides.' Because Nour was the only member of the communications team in Gaza. It was Nour that decided to dig in and turn this into a full series. It was Nour that was able to source all of these interviews, in the most difficult of conditions. And it was Nour that took it upon herself to take beautiful portraits of all the interview subjects, so their stories could be presented in the same style as those collected in New York City. For these reasons Nour is, and will always be, the cocreator of this series. @humansony

Humans of New York has been running stories of medics and journalists in Gaza for the last few weeks. This is from the latest instalment.

That said. I'm a little bit stunned that Shingai Njeri Kagunda's "We Who Will Not Die" didnt make the shortlist. I think its one of the best stories published anywhere last year and has been damn near criminally underappreciated so far.

THIS.

(Oh you haven't read it yet? HERE'S A LINK GO NOW -- psychopomp.com/we-who-will-...)

#africansff

Martyrs of Gaza @GazaMartyrs This is my will and my final message. If my words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice. First, peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you. God knows that I have given all my effort and strength to be a support and a voice for my people since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of Jabalia refugee camp. My hope was that God would grant me life to return with my family and loved ones to our original town of Ashkelon (Al-Majdal), occupied land. But God's will was swifter, and His decree is binding. I lived pain in all its details, tasted grief and loss repeatedly, yet I never hesitated to convey the truth as it is—-without distortion or falsification— hoping God would bear witness against those who remained silent, those who accepted our killing, those who besieged our breaths, and whose hearts were not moved by the shattered bodies of our children and women, nor did they stop the massacre our people have faced for more than a year and a half.

I entrust you with Palestine, the jewel of the Muslim world and the pulse of every free heart in this world. I entrust you with its people, with its innocent children who were not granted the time to dream or live in safety and peace. Their pure bodies were crushed under thousands of tons of Israeli bombs and missiles, torn apart, their remains scattered on the walls. l urge you not to let chains silence you, nor borders restrain you. Be bridges toward liberating the land and the people until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland. I entrust you with my family. I entrust you with the apple of my eye, my beloved daughter, Sham, whom fate did not allow me to see grow as I dreamed. I entrust you with my dear son, Salah, whom I wished to support and accompany until he grew strong, carrying my burden and continuing the mission.

I entrust you with my beloved mother, whose prayers were the reason I reached where I did. Her supplications were my fortress, and her light my path. I pray God to ease her heart and reward her abundantly on my behalf. I also entrust you with my lifelong companion, my beloved wife, Umm Salah Bayan, from whom war separated us for long days and months, but who remained faithful, steadfast like an olive tree trunk that never bends, patient and devout, carrying the trust in my absence with strength and faith. I urge you to gather around them and be their support after God Almighty. If I die, I die steadfast on my principles, bearing witness to God that I am satisfied with His decree, believing in meeting Him, and certain that what is with God is better and everlasting. O God, accept me among the martyrs, forgive my past and future sins, and make my blood a light that illuminates the path to freedom for my people and family.

Forgive me if I fell short, and pray for me mercy, for I have remained true to the covenant, never changing or betraying it. Do not forget Gaza... And do not forget me in your good prayers for forgiveness and acceptance. Anas Jamal Al-Sharif 06.04.2025 This is what Anas ordered to be published upon his martyrdom.

Anas Al Sharif had these words to publish if he was martyred which he was tonight as Israel starts the invasion of Gaza City

@kaaauthor.bsky.social I’m writing a strongly worded email to the compilers of this dictionary 😄

It was international actors in the US-led "liberal world order" who undercut popular calls during the Revolution for "100%" civilian government and applauded the power sharing of military and militia that inevitably cracked into the violent counterrevolution that is now called "a war about nothing."

The Most Nihilistic Conflict on Earth Sudan’s devastating civil war shows what will replace the liberal order: anarchy and greed.

More vile than calling this war "a war about nothing" is attributing the humanitarian tragedy in any way to the retreat of the US, whose unmentioned sanctions (with exemptions for the American empire of Coke) shaped Sudan's extractive, militarized economy.
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Donate to Help Nisi Shawl write the book of her dream!, organized by Eileen Gunn Nisi Shawl, a wise and wonderful writer of science fiction and fantasy, had a… Eileen Gunn needs your support for Help Nisi Shawl write the book of her dream!

Nisi Shawl is one of my favorite writers, a queer elder & a BIPOC icon. I hate that the state of publishing is such that the book of their dreams would struggle to find a home, but I love that we as a community can come together to make it happen!! Give/boost as you're able? 🙏

gofund.me/3a52097a

‘We’re suffering’: People in Sudan’s el-Fasher eat animal fodder to survive A deadly cholera outbreak adds to the misery in a region that has witnessed fighting between the army and the rebels.

A deadly cholera outbreak adds to the misery in a region that has witnessed fighting between the army and the rebels.