Omenana Speculative Fiction Magazine Issue 25

Hello People!

It’s great to have you back on our exciting adventure into African Speculative fiction. Not much has changed in the world since last December when we brought you our Special South African Edition. The earth still rotates along its axis—although I hear her rotation is somewhat slower these days, AI is about to take over the world—if you don’t agree, go ahead and argue with ChatGPT, there is nothing like global climate change, and Africa is home to countries considered as the greatest economies of all time. You think otherwise? Well… A girl can be allowed to dream in peace. Lol.

For the second year in a row, we brought you 4 issues in a year in 2022. We hope to keep this steam going, providing you stories that excite, educate, tickle and keep you on the edges of your seats. That’s why we are extremely tickled to be bringing you issue 25 with writers from different corners of Africa and America!

For our French stories, we have Les Chemins Ténébreux by Moustapha Mbacke Diop and La Boîte de la Dame Futuriste by Lu Ain Zaila, which is translated from Portuguese.

Sadly, we will be saying goodbye to our French stories for a while as our French language editor and collaborator, Mame Bougouma Diene, will be taking a break after this edition. We are immensely grateful to Mame for his work with the magazine and his passion for speculative fiction from Francophone Africa. Yeah, there will always be a place for him in the Omenana Family.

But… the show must go on.

You know how it is with African Speculative fiction stories; the stranger they come, the harder we fall for them, like the story set in a waterside community with great beaches, islands and The Strange Folk. After reading The Strange Folk, you can enjoy an adventure into The Eye in The Sky. If you’ve ever wondered about the fates and thought of the possibility of writing or rewriting yours and others, then you want to read The Writers Room.

I’ll issue a special invitation to shoe lovers and haters alike; you want to find out what Favourite Shoes has in store for everyone. July 12 is an important date, but we don’t know why, until we read about July 12 Through The Lens. We also have very interesting stories that straddle the physical and other worlds. Other planes holds a twist you won’t see coming until the last page, and when you encounter Madam Shaje’s Catering you just might need to drink some water because it packs some extra spice.

Go on and take several sips; actually, gulp all the juicy stories we have for you.

Cheers!

Iquo DianaAbasi