African scifi: trying out alternative futures is one of the genre's best features

As American scifi writers have closed the books on the notoriously racist H.P. Lovecraft, the continent he scorned is getting its own back:

African science fiction has arrived. In spurts. There are a handful of novels and a few films like Crumbs, Pumzi and District 9, from Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa, respectively, but the largely undiscovered bright spot is the short-story genre. African authors are creating their own breed of sci-fi, in which Africans are central, complex participants rather than occasional “gross caricatures,” says Ivor Hartmann, editor of AfroSF, the 2012 (and first-ever) anthology of science fiction by African writers. 

Zimbabwean writer (and trained podiatrist) Tendai Huchu says that African science fiction is a way to explore possible futures, allowing writers to envision Africa in a way that isn’t “purely academic,” Hartmann says. And it adds to the wider discussion taking place at this year’s Future Fest in Lagos, Nigeria, and those that will follow across the continent in places like Johannesburg, South Africa, and Nairobi, Kenya. To be sure, African science fiction is still fighting an uphill battle, and finding publishers can be a challenge. But what’s out there is delicious. Here are four of our favorites....