Ivor W. Hartmann is a Zimbabwean writer, editor, publisher, and visual artist. Awarded The Golden Baobab Prize (2009), finalist for the Yvonne Vera Award (2011), selected for The 20 in Twenty: The Best Short Stories of South Africa’s Democracy (2014), awarded third in the Jalada Prize for Literature (2015), and Nommo Awards nomination (2017). His works have appeared in many publications. He also runs the StoryTime micro-press, publisher of the African Roar and AfroSF series of anthologies.

22 May 2020

The first African Speculative Fiction StoryBundle



The African Speculative Fiction StoryBundle curated by Ivor W. Hartmann

This is the most comprehensive collection of African speculative fiction authors ever assembled. With the complete bundle containing nearly 100 authors and over 145 works it stands both as an excellent introduction to the rapidly evolving canon of African SF and a unique one-time collection of their works. From established stars you might know such as Nnedi Okorafor, Tade Thompson, and Sarah Lotz, to upcomers like Wole Talabi, Chinelo Onwualu, Nerine Dorman, Dilman Dila, and so many more.

The bundle starts in 2012 with the first AfroSF and goes right through to 2020 with the first special edition anthology from Omenana magazine, providing a healthy cross-section of African SF over eight years and in some cases the development of individual authors from their first publication onwards. And it is precisely for these reasons I have selected anthologies over novels in this inaugural bundle so as to better represent the full scale of African SF, though you will find too the bonus individual collections Kabu Kabu by Nnedi Okorafor and A Killing in the Sun by Dilman Dila.

The road to this bundle has been paved by the work of countless African writers, editors, publishers, and most importantly readers. For too long was the African experience, imagination, and insight, held captive and until relatively recently only glimpsed through the thick lens of other cultures and their inherent biases. In a big way this is what the new wave of African Speculative Fiction is about: telling our own stories, revealing our vibrant cultures from within, sharing our unique perspectives, and writing ourselves into futures that for so long seemed to spell our doom by virtue of our absence.

Indeed, our progress over just the last eight years has been phenomenal. We have not only won international awards like Arthur C. Clarke, World Fantasy, and Nebula, etc., but gone on to create our own like the Nommos now in its fourth year, the SSDA Award now in its eight year. African publishers such as Jalada Africa, Seven Hills Media, StoryTime, Short Story Day Africa, DADA books, Pan African Publishers, and Black Letter Media, all of whom contributed to make this bundle, have actively encouraged and published more speculative fiction than ever before, and we have only just begun.

In this vein, the charity giving chosen for this bundle is the African Speculative Fiction Society, to help with the tireless unpaid work of this collective NPO. The ASFS was formed in 2016 and primarily at present is focused on the Nommo awards. The awards are nominated and voted upon by ASFS members for excellence in four Speculative Fiction categories. The importance of these independent awards and the ASFS as a part of building a robust and diverse homegrown African SF canon cannot be overstated nor underestimated. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I trust you will enjoy all the works in this bundle as much as we did in writing and publishing them for you. I hope you will be introduced to new authors to look out for, new ideas about the world from our perspectives, and see an inclusive future that proves we are so much stronger together than we can ever be apart, especially in these trying times and the times still ahead.

A massive big thanks goes out to all the authors, editors, and publishers, who made this possible, and especially Jason Chen of Storybundle for giving us this chance to present our works to you.

– Ivor W. Hartmann

* * *

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you're feeling generous), you'll get the basic bundle of four books in any ebook format—WORLDWIDE.

• AfroSFv1 edited by Ivor W. Hartmann
• Lagos_2060 edited by Ayodele Arigbabu
• Terra Incognita by Nerine Dorman
• Jalada 2: AfroFuture(s) by Jalada Africa

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $15, you get all four of the regular books, plus six more more books, for a total of ten! That's a total of five StoryBundle exclusives!

• A Killing in the Sun by Dilman Dila
• Kabu-Kabu Stories by Nnedi Okorafor
• AfroSFv2 edited by Ivor W. Hartmann
• AfroSFv3 edited by Ivor W. Hartmann
• Omenana to Infinity by Omenana
• Imagine Africa 500 edited by Billy Kahora

This bundle is available only for a limited time via https://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub, .mobi) for all books!

It's also super easy to give the gift of reading with StoryBundle, thanks to our gift cards – which allow you to send someone a code that they can redeem for any future StoryBundle bundle – and timed delivery, which allows you to control exactly when your recipient will get the gift of StoryBundle.
Why StoryBundle? Here are just a few benefits StoryBundle provides.

• Get quality reads: We've chosen works from excellent authors to bundle together in one convenient package.

• Pay what you want (minimum $5): You decide how much these fantastic books are worth. If you can only spare a little, that's fine! You'll still get access to a batch of exceptional titles.

• Support authors who support DRM-free books: StoryBundle is a platform for authors to get exposure for their works, both for the titles featured in the bundle and for the rest of their catalog. Supporting authors who let you read their books on any device you want—restriction free—will show everyone there's nothing wrong with ditching DRM.

• Give to worthy causes: Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to the African Speculative Fiction Society!

• Receive extra books: If you beat the bonus price, you'll get the bonus books!

StoryBundle was created to give a platform for independent authors to showcase their work, and a source of quality titles for thirsty readers. StoryBundle works with authors to create bundles of ebooks that can be purchased by readers at their desired price. Before starting StoryBundle, Founder Jason Chen covered technology and software as an editor for Gizmodo.com and Lifehacker.com.

For more information, visit our website at storybundle.com, tweet us at @storybundle and like us on Facebook. For press inquiries, please email press@storybundle.com.

04 December 2018

AfroSFv3 Released!

AfroSFv3 Released!

Now out in ebook and paperback at most major online retailers. Space, the astronomical wilderness that has enthralled our minds since we first looked up in wonder. We are ineffably drawn to it, and equally terrified by it. We have created endless mythologies, sciences, and even religions, in the quest to understand it. We know more now than ever before and are taking our first real steps. What will become of Africans out there, will we thrive, how will space change us, how will we change it? AfroSFv3 is going out there, into the great expanse, and with twelve African visions of the future we invite you to sit back, strap in, and enjoy the ride. 

“The third in this pioneering series with an honour roll of some of African writing’s biggest names contributing. Unmissable.” — Geoff Ryman, author, awarded the Nebula, two-time Arthur C. Clarke, three-time BSFA, two-time Canadian Sunburst, as well as the Campbell, Philip K. Dick, and James Tiptree Jr., awards.

“The compelling, graceful stories in AfroSFv3 embrace a generous spectrum of places and peoples, eras and objectives. From sophisticated space operas to gritty cyberpunk streets; from day-after-tomorrow beginnings to far-off futures; from familial closeness to alien vastness, these well-wrought tales, infused with all the sharp, bright, enticing flavors of their African origins, show us the commonality of our species across all racial, ethnic and gender lines. Truly, these writers speak the same science fiction tongue as their like-minded cousins from the rest of the planet, with beautiful accents of their native soil.” — Paul Di Filippo, author of Cosmocopia, The Steampunk Trilogy, and others. 

“With stories ranging from mundane science fiction to distant space opera passing from post-colonial biopunk and new family ties, the latest book of in the AfroSF series shows that inclusivity and multiculturality is the key to the future. As quality storytelling - rooted in every culture and tradition – doesn’t belong to a single country or language, these stories prove that the future - as evident as it might sound although not always considered so - does happen everywhere. Excellent reading!” — Francesco Verso, author of Nexhuman and editor of Future Fiction

Table of Contents
T. L. Huchu ‘Njuzu’
Cristy Zinn ‘The Girl who stared at Mars’
Mandisi Nkomo ‘The Emo Hunter’
Biram Mboob ‘The Luminal Frontier’
Gabriella Muwanga ‘The Far Side’
Wole Talabi ‘Drift Flux’
Stephen Embleton ‘Journal of a DNA Pirate’
Masimba Musodza ‘The Interplanetary Water Company’
Dilman Dila ‘Safari Nyota’
Mazi Nwonwu ‘Parental Control’
Andrew C. Dakalira ‘Inhabitable’
Mame Bougouma Diene ‘Ogotemmeli’s Song’


Editor: Ivor W. Hartmann
Title: AfroSFv3
Publisher: StoryTime
Released: 1st December 2018

Available in Paperback and eBook at many online retailers including: Afrosfv3 at Amazon.com

01 December 2015

AfroSFv2 Release Day!

Release Day for AfroSFv2! Now out in ebook and paperback at most major online retailers.

Continuing the groundbreaking tradition of the first volume AfroSFv2 is an anthology of five original SF novellas by African writers.

Table of Contents

‘The Last Pantheon’
Tade Thompson & Nick Wood
An epic superhero face-off thousands of years in the making.

‘Hell Freezes Over’
Mame Bougouma Diene
Long after the last skyscraper has drowned who remains and how will they survive?

‘The Flying Man of Stone’
Dilman Dila
When ancient technology seems like magic legends live again in the midst of war and sides will be chosen.

‘VIII’
Andrew Dakalira
A space shuttle crash, the numeral eight, serial murders, what connects them all could end humanity.

‘An Indigo Song for Paradise’
Efe Tokunbo Okogu
Change is coming to Paradise City and it won’t be pretty, but if this is paradise then heaven must be hell in need of a revolution.

Editor: Ivor W. Hartmann
Title: AfroSFv2
Publisher: StoryTime
Released: 1st December 2015

11 September 2015

AfroSFv2 Cover and TOC release!

Continuing the groundbreaking tradition of the first volume AfroSFv2 is an exciting anthology of five original SF novellas by African writers.

Table of Contents

‘The Last Pantheon’
Tade Thompson & Nick Wood
An epic superhero face-off thousands of years in the making.

‘Hell Freezes Over’
Mame Bougouma Diene
Long after the last skyscraper has drowned who remains and how will they survive?

‘The Flying Man of Stone’
Dilman Dila
When ancient technology seems like magic legends live again in the midst of war and sides will be chosen.

‘VIII’
Andrew Dakalira
A space shuttle crash, the numeral eight, serial murders, what connects them all could end humanity.

‘Paradise City’
Efe Tokunbo Okogu
Change is coming to Paradise city and it won’t be pretty, but if this is paradise then heaven must be hell in need of a revolution.

Editor: Ivor W. Hartmann
Title: AfroSFv2
Publisher: StoryTime
Release: 1st December 2015

08 April 2015

"Last Wave" published, translated, and won third place in the inaugural Jalada Prize for Literature!

My short story "Last Wave" published in Jalada's Afrofuture(s) anthology, translated into Swahili by Okwiri Oduor for the bonus edition, and won third place in the inaugural Jalada Prize for Literature!

03 April 2015

Interview in This Is Africa

New interview out, talking about publishing and writing with Bwesigye Bwa Mwesigire in This Is Africa: StoryTime’s Ivor Hartmann: Carrying the flag for independent (donor-free) African publishers "If someone talks about African genre-publishing and writing and omits Ivor Hartmann, ask them to do their homework and return. Ivor’s StoryTime has always had an eye for genre-fiction, even when he does not necessarily sideline literary fiction. Learn about the growth of the company from the time they published the StoryTime online magazine to publishing sci-fi..."

02 October 2014

African Roar 2014 Released!

African Roar 2014 released!

From the introduction to African Roar 2014:

Writers have a long tradition of breaking new ground, and African writers are no exception to this tradition. We don’t wait for publishers who wait for markets to become established, no, we jump into the deep end and form those markets ourselves. Whether it’s a publishing collective, micro-press, small press, blogs, tweets, magazines, spoken word events, or even handing out photocopies on street corners, we find a way to make ourselves heard. We do this not for some ethereal ideology, but because for us, writing and being read is an imperative no less strong than the act of breathing. It haunts our lives, driving us forward into acts of creativity we couldn’t have dreamed possible had we stopped and instead questioned ourselves into muteness.
Certainly, there is always a place for discussion and constructive criticism, always, but it should never lessen our imperative, our blind impulse. Creativity is an unknown quantity, a wild card in the human story without which we would have bored ourselves into extinction. As writers we understand this intuitively perhaps, we also understand that creativity is a communal experience; it cannot exist in a vacuum.
This is why in a continent as vast as Africa, literature initiatives no matter how small are so needed. In this age there is no longer any excuse to sit back and complain about, no, for every complaint there is an opportunity to go and do something about it—we all have that power as individuals and communally. And indeed this is exactly what many of us are doing across the continent as this is truly a new age for African literature. Gone are the gatekeepers, gone is the time of anyone picking and choosing what our narratives shall be, and gone is the single story. What is left now is for us to but realise it and go forth and get on with it. We have the readers, we have the audience. Africa, despite what anyone may say, is a continent of avid readers in many mediums, and we have a continent of storytellers to match their thirst word for word in all genres conceivable.

It gives me great pleasure to bring to you the fifth African Roar, indeed how time has flown. For five years now Emmanuel Sigauke and I have edited and published some of the most exciting new fiction from African writers—mostly upcoming writers, many of whom now have thriving, even lauded, writing careers. Indeed this was always the idea of StoryTime, to provide an independent Pan-African publishing platform for new voices and explorations, and in this I feel we have succeeded and surpassed our original expectations. - Ed. Ivor W. Hartmann

African Roar 2014 at Amazon
African Roar 2014 at Amazon UK
African Roar 2014 at Amazon India
African Roar 2014 at Amazon Germany
African Roar 2014 at Amazon France
African Roar 2014 at Amazon Spain
African Roar 2014 at Amazon Italy
African Roar 2014 at Amazon Brazil
African Roar 2014 at Amazon Canada
African Roar 2014 at Amazon Mexico
African Roar 2014 at Amazon Australia

African Roar 2014 is volume five of the African Roar annual anthology dedicated to publishing excellent new and original short fiction by emerging and established African writers. Selected from submissions open to all African writers on the continent and abroad. Edited by Ivor W. Hartmann.

Table of Contents:
Introduction - Ivor W. Hartmann
'Flight' Jayne Bauling
'My Wedding Day' Obinna Ozoigbo
'The Side Dish' Edwin P. Magezi
'Beth's Aid' Tabitha Wanja Mwangi
'Talking to a Lizard' Obinna Udenwe
'Coming Home in a Box' Olorunfunmi Demilade Temitope
'The Bell Not Touched' Nonso Uzozie
'Spinoza's Monad' Ezeiyoke Chukwunonso
'A Salute to Safety Sam' Tendai Machingaidze

16 September 2014

New story published 'Catwalk' in Litro#137: Future Fashions

"This was Chiedza’s first catwalk and she was pregnant with anxiety. The roar of the crowd like a thousand bees in her brain pummelled through the skin curtains leading to the great hall and the runway that bisected it... Read the full story here.

02 August 2014

African Roar 2014 Cover and TOC release!

African Roar 2014

Table of Contents

Flight - Jayne Bauling
My Wedding Day - Obinna Ozoigbo
The Side Dish - Edwin P. Magezi
Beth's Aid - Tabitha Wanja Mwangi
Talking to a Lizard - Obinna Udenwe
Coming Home in a Box - Olorunfunmi Demilade Temitope
The Bell Not Touched - Nonso Uzozie
Spinoza's Monad - Ezeiyoke Chukwunonso
A Salute to Safety Sam - Tendai Machingaidze

Cover artwork 'Spirit of Hope' by Victor Mavedzenge (http://www.mavedzenge.com/)

 
This is a website for Zimbabwean Author Ivor W. Hartmann. All posts on this site are Copyright © Ivor W. Hartmann 2007-2011. All rights reserved.