Afrofuturism/Africanfuturism
Stories blending Black culture, history, and speculative futures.
We had a great turnout at the August session. It was great to see everyone again. And to meet the new joiners. It is always great when so many recommendations get passed around.
And we managed to come up with our next theme without too much fanfare.
Afrofuturism/Africanfuturism
This includes books with African or African diaspora themes and/or settings, with a futuristic or fantastical twist. A few examples are provided, some of which are available on Libby. As usual, these are just suggestions; you can read anything that fits, or talk about something in the theme you’ve read before.
Session Recap
Our September gathering explored Afrofuturism & Africanfuturism, a theme that took us across an extraordinary range of speculative fiction.
The evening's books showed that imagining the future doesn't mean leaving history, culture or tradition behind. Our discussion moved between African folklore and spirituality, Caribbean traditions, colonialism and migration, cybernetic bodies, alternate histories, post-apocalyptic cities and journeys into space.
Among the books discussed were Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, including Joshua Uchenna Omenga's fable-like short story “The Deification of Igodo”; Octavia E. Butler's Survivor; Namina Forna's The Gilded Ones; Nnedi Okorafor's Noor, Binti and Remote Control; P. Djèlí Clark's alternate-history novella The Black God's Drums; and Nalo Hopkinson's Toronto-set Brown Girl in the Ring.
One of the most interesting threads running through the evening was the question of what makes a story Afrofuturist or Africanfuturist in the first place. Some books placed futuristic technology front and centre, while others felt closer to folklore or mythology with speculative elements around the edges. Across both approaches, culture and history weren't simply decoration for a familiar science-fiction setting — they fundamentally shaped the worlds being imagined.
As usual, the conversation eventually escaped the month's theme entirely, producing recommendations ranging from literary capers and thrillers to LitRPG, Indigenous fiction and end-of-the-world road trips.
Before wrapping up, we selected our theme for the next meeting:
Parallel Worlds
Alternate realities, branching timelines, other dimensions and worlds that resemble our own — until they don't.
Early recommendations included Blake Crouch's Dark Matter, Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, Susanna Clarke's Piranesi, Matt Haig's The Midnight Library and Jeremy Robinson's MirrorWorld.
Thanks to everyone who joined us and brought another wonderfully varied collection of books to the table. We look forward to seeing where Parallel Worlds takes us next.