Here's the first instalment of our guide to Kenyan speculative fiction. Today's spotlight features Kenyan writing published by Will This Be A Problem? over the years. See thread below 🧵
Will This Be A Problem?
@willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social
A Kenyan-based SFFH literary journal showcasing the very best in African fantastika. Everything WTBAP?: https://linktr.ee/WTBAP
Qwani LitFest 2026 was one for the books! Congratulations to the Qwani team on a successful first literary festival and for building spaces that keep giving young creatives room to grow. Many thanks to everyone who attended, shared ideas and helped make the day memorable.
WTBAP? is nominated in this year's @theignyteawards.bsky.social for The Community Award for Outstanding Efforts in Service of Inclusion and Equitable Practice in the Genre! Thrilled to be shortlisted alongside great company and we are asking for your vote: ignyteawards.fiyahlitmag.com/vote/
Vote for Commensalism!!!
Will This Be A Problem?@willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 2w agoICYMI: Commensalism, or the Labyrinth's Vessels by @nkereuwxm.bsky.social is an Ignyte Award finalist in the Outstanding Short Story category! We're grateful to everyone who nominated the story and are asking for your vote once again. Voting closes Aug 16th: ignyteawards.fiyahlitmag.com/vote
Qwani LitFest is tomorrow! Expect a full day of Substack readings, poetry performances, book sales and interactive panels featuring our very own @dontcallmeliv.myatproto.social! Event to be held at Baraza Media Lab, Nairobi, from 11 am to 6 pm at no cost. See you there!
ICYMI: Commensalism, or the Labyrinth's Vessels by @nkereuwxm.bsky.social is an Ignyte Award finalist in the Outstanding Short Story category! We're grateful to everyone who nominated the story and are asking for your vote once again. Voting closes Aug 16th: ignyteawards.fiyahlitmag.com/vote
The #2026IgnyteAwards finalists in Outstanding Short Story are: Autogas Ferryman – @champwongs.bsky.social Because I Held His Name Like A Key – @aimeeogdenwrites.com Commensalism, Or the Labyrinth’s Vessels – @nkereuwxm.bsky.social (1/2)
Congratulations to @nkereuwxm.bsky.social!!!
The Ignyte Awards@theignyteawards.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe #2026IgnyteAwards finalists in Outstanding Short Story are: Autogas Ferryman – @champwongs.bsky.social Because I Held His Name Like A Key – @aimeeogdenwrites.com Commensalism, Or the Labyrinth’s Vessels – @nkereuwxm.bsky.social (1/2)
And finally the #2026IgnyteAwards Community Award for Outstanding Efforts in Service of Inclusion and Equitable Practice in Genre are: @augursociety.bsky.social @jasonsanford.bsky.social @sistahscifi.bsky.social @strangehorizons.bsky.social @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social
Wow what a moment! We are so honored to be on the ballot and in such splendid company!!! Thank you so much to the Ignyte Team for seeing and recognizing our efforts!
The Ignyte Awards@theignyteawards.bsky.social · 2mo agoAnd finally the #2026IgnyteAwards Community Award for Outstanding Efforts in Service of Inclusion and Equitable Practice in Genre are: @augursociety.bsky.social @jasonsanford.bsky.social @sistahscifi.bsky.social @strangehorizons.bsky.social @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social
We're thrilled to share the cover for THE CITY OF FACTORIES by debut author @naomieselojor.bsky.social: Set in an alternative history Nigeria, this Africanfuturist steampunk novella is a tale of resistance & technological responsibility. Pre-order now: links.ruadanbooks.com/TCOF #BookSky #TBR
Today I'm very happy to showcase this upcoming piece of African science fiction.
Book Microreview: The Blossoming of the Big Tree by Dilman Dila
A hopeful tale of a fight against hopeless odds You know the failure modes that democracy can fall into: the formation of cliques that don’t...
nerds-feather.com
The Hugo award nomination deadline approaches... If you're nominating, kindly consider the work Will This Be A Problem published last year, including Issue V of our anthology, which is on The Locus Recommended Reading List. All the stories are free to read on our site!
Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V
Issue V brings together a powerful collection of stories that blend the fantastical with the deeply real.
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
Will This Be A Problem?@willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 6mo agoWe're grateful to see WTBAP longlisted alongside so much SFF work we admire this award season. The recognition belongs to the writers and artists who trusted us with their vision. If their works stayed with you and you’re nominating, we’d appreciate your consideration. #AfricanSFF 🪐📚💙
Hugo nominations are open, and we would be so honored if you considered the work we published last year. The Locus-recommended anthology is free to read on our website - thank you for your consideration!
Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V
Issue V brings together a powerful collection of stories that blend the fantastical with the deeply real.
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
Will This Be A Problem?@willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 6mo agoWe're grateful to see WTBAP longlisted alongside so much SFF work we admire this award season. The recognition belongs to the writers and artists who trusted us with their vision. If their works stayed with you and you’re nominating, we’d appreciate your consideration. #AfricanSFF 🪐📚💙
Read the interview and then check out Will This Be a Problem? if you haven't already! willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/issue-5/
Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V
Issue V brings together a powerful collection of stories that blend the fantastical with the deeply real.
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
Olivia Kidula@dontcallmeliv.myatproto.social · 5mo agoI was interviewed by @okayafrica.bsky.social about @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social, paying writers, and creating room for African speculative fiction to thrive… read it here! www.okayafrica.com/what-its-lik...
I was interviewed by @okayafrica.bsky.social about @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social, paying writers, and creating room for African speculative fiction to thrive… read it here! www.okayafrica.com/what-its-lik...
What It’s Like To … Build Space for African Speculative Fiction from Nairobi
As editor of the speculative fiction journal ‘Will This Be A Problem?,’ Olivia Kidula talks to OkayAfrica about building literary space, paying writers, and creating room for African horror, fantasy, ...
okayafrica.com
We're grateful to see WTBAP longlisted alongside so much SFF work we admire this award season. The recognition belongs to the writers and artists who trusted us with their vision. If their works stayed with you and you’re nominating, we’d appreciate your consideration. #AfricanSFF 🪐📚💙
Hugo nominations are open, and we would be so honored if you considered the work we published last year. The Locus-recommended anthology is free to read on our website - thank you for your consideration!
Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V
Issue V brings together a powerful collection of stories that blend the fantastical with the deeply real.
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
Will This Be A Problem?@willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 6mo agoWe're grateful to see WTBAP longlisted alongside so much SFF work we admire this award season. The recognition belongs to the writers and artists who trusted us with their vision. If their works stayed with you and you’re nominating, we’d appreciate your consideration. #AfricanSFF 🪐📚💙
Alright. As is now tradition, here are my 10 favorite African SFF stories from 2025 📖 📚 Featuring tales from: @fiyahlitmag.bsky.social @clarkesworldmagazine.com @omenanamag.bsky.social @giganotosaurus.bsky.social @zamashort.com @khoreo.bsky.social @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social + more!
Reactor Magazine@reactorsff.bsky.social · 6mo ago2025 was another great year for African short fiction! Author @wtalabi.com recommends 10 highlights across science fiction, fantasy, and horror, from "magic-for-wealth schemes" to an unsettling religious organization (in space). And if there's some ties in there...? We're not complaining.
Once again if you are not currently following @shingai-be-like.bsky.social , do so now
Reactor Magazine@reactorsff.bsky.social · 6mo ago2025 was another great year for African short fiction! Author @wtalabi.com recommends 10 highlights across science fiction, fantasy, and horror, from "magic-for-wealth schemes" to an unsettling religious organization (in space). And if there's some ties in there...? We're not complaining.
2025 was another great year for African short fiction! Author @wtalabi.com recommends 10 highlights across science fiction, fantasy, and horror, from "magic-for-wealth schemes" to an unsettling religious organization (in space). And if there's some ties in there...? We're not complaining.
Ten(ish) of the Best African Speculative Short Fiction Stories of 2025 - Reactor
Here are some of the speculative fiction gems that may have flown under the radar in 2025...
reactormag.com
My story "If Memory Serves" made it to Reactor Mag's Ten(ish) of the Best African Speculative Short Fiction Stories of 2025. Its currently free to read on Will This Be A Problem? willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/2025/04/27/i...
If Memory Serves – Will This Be A Problem?
No Memory For Sisyphus Human rights are constantly evolving. The more we learn, the clearer these rights become to us. Usually, our understanding of human right
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
Reactor Magazine@reactorsff.bsky.social · 6mo ago2025 was another great year for African short fiction! Author @wtalabi.com recommends 10 highlights across science fiction, fantasy, and horror, from "magic-for-wealth schemes" to an unsettling religious organization (in space). And if there's some ties in there...? We're not complaining.
Huge congratulations to the African writers and editors featured on the 2025 Locus Recommended Reading List #AfricanSFF 🪐📚💙🧵
We’re delighted to share that Issue V of Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology has made the 2025 @locusmag.bsky.social Recommended Reading List! Congratulations to everyone included.
Day 31! One month done! I read Dinosaurs Once Lived Here by @yvettel.bsky.social published in @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social. A selection of uncreation myths. Which is your favourite? Find out mine here: mickstaniforth.wordpress.com/2026/01/31/s...
S/D/Y Jan 30 – Dinosaurs Once Lived Here by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu – WTBAP
One month down and I finished with one of my favourites so far. Rather than creation myths, Dinosaurs Once Lived Here presents a series of different possible destruction myths, how the world might …
mickstaniforth.wordpress.com
All the stories from Issue V of Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology are once again free to read on our website. If you are reading for awards, we would be touched if you considered these fantastic and deserving works! willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/issue-5/
Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V
Buy the Ebook Buy the Paperback (International) Buy the Paperback (Kenya)
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
Will This Be A Problem?@willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 6mo agoWe're grateful to see WTBAP longlisted alongside so much SFF work we admire this award season. The recognition belongs to the writers and artists who trusted us with their vision. If their works stayed with you and you’re nominating, we’d appreciate your consideration. #AfricanSFF 🪐📚💙
We're grateful to see WTBAP longlisted alongside so much SFF work we admire this award season. The recognition belongs to the writers and artists who trusted us with their vision. If their works stayed with you and you’re nominating, we’d appreciate your consideration. #AfricanSFF 🪐📚💙
Here’s work published by Rutendo Chidzodzo in 2025. The Zimbabwean writer’s work is eligible in short fiction categories, so if you’re nominating or voting this awards season, we’d be grateful for your support. Link below. #AfricanSFF 🪐📚💙
@litgalz.bsky.social’s horror short published in our second magazine issue is eligible for awards this season! Please take a moment to read and vote for it in the relevant categories if you haven’t already. Link below #AfricanSFF 🪐📚💙
