African science fiction imagines new ways of living in climate-changed worlds

A new book called African Climate Futures explores how African science fiction is addressing climate change.

International politics scholar Carl Death weighs up climate policies in African countries and discusses stories and films alongside them. His book imagines a future that may be grim, but is alive with potential solutions.

From Ethiopia and The Gambia to Nigeria and South Africa, the book takes in the work of Nnedi Okorafor, Wanuri Kahiu, Lauren Beukes, Tlotlo Tsamaase, Chinelo Onwualu and many others. We asked the author about his book.

Why read African climate fiction?

The best reason is, of course, because there are some great stories out there! African science fiction – as well as fantasy and horror – is hardly a new or recent emergence, but it’s enjoying heightened visibility and popularity.

There are exciting examples of great African speculative fiction reaching the mainstream. From Disney’s Iwájú to Nigerian-American novelist Tomi Adeyemi’s bestselling Legacy of the Orisha series to Zambian author Namwali Serpell’s prize-winning novel The Old Drift.

I was drawn into African climate fiction through wonderful stories, such as Nigerian-American writer Nnedi Okorafor’s. But I soon became interested in how these tales challenge a lot of what we think about global climate change politics. I’ve approached them from this perspective. As a researcher on environmental politics rather than as a scholar of...

Read more