Disruption: New Short Fiction from Africa

by Karina M. Szczurek (Editor), Jason Mykl Snyman (Editor), Rachel Zadok (Editor)

The title and topic chosen for our seventh collection of stories from around Africa, decided before the world as we knew it changed, turned out to be eerily prescient. Drawn from the four corners of the continent, from Libya and Sierra Leone to Kenya and Botswana, these twenty-one stories serve up an imaginative feast, many unfolding the consequences of the environmental degradation of the planet.

But the contributors have not parroted the doom and gloom often found in dystopian or apocalyptic fiction. Instead, they have opted for wildly original narratives featuring sea monsters, zombies, time and space travel, cyborgs, immortals, gods and goddesses both benevolent and terrifying, and even a one-eyed octopus. This riot of colour and creativity offers fierce and rich allegories of colonial conquest and late capitalism, and probes patriarchal family and social structures with deft fingers.

The reader will find comedy, the absurd, and the surreal in these pages, as well as lovingly drawn and often valedictory accounts of the natural world and its denizens. Above all, these stories tell of human connection in the face of impossibly difficult circumstances, providing much-needed comfort and inspiration.

Prepare to be disturbed, moved, and entertained. This is the disruption you’re really looking for.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Africa, Science Fiction, African Literature, Fantasy, Anthologies

312 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 2021

Reviews

[♑︎♑︎♑︎ ♑︎♑︎♑︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The theme of these stories is disruption and I as a reader felt a strong sense of dislocation and an awareness that the writers' life experiences were far removed from my own. The introduction tells the story of how this anthology was delayed a year because of the ravages of covid-19. It drove home to me the health and social and cultural and economic costs of this world-wide pandemic, and how unevenly these costs have been distributed across our globe.

The stories themselves? They weren't written for me. They were written by people who have known loss and economic uncertainty and political uncertainty far beyond anything I've experienced. The first two stories, two in a row, put a character in a quandary about how to dispose of a body. Yes these are futuristic stories but they feel soaked in the tears and sufferings of the present. I didn't always understand these stories. I didn't understand their structure--where they began and where they ended up many times felt arbitrary and not in keeping with my idea of what a short story is supposed to do. I feel unable to evaluate them in the same way I would read and evaluate a story by a recent MFA graduate from Iowa. So while I could well write "I did not understand them" or even "I did not like them" at times, I chalk that up to my ignorance and my biases. In the end the anthology left me wanted to read more from these authors. And to educate myself.

[Ana WJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. Strong voices & unique interpretations.

[Jacqueline Nyathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review first appeared in The Continent, Issue 77, March 5, 2022.

Disruption is an anthology from Short Story Day Africa, chosen from submissions to its annual competition from around the continent. This year’s anthology has been published as an e-book, featuring stories on the theme of disruption –

… especially but not limited to climate and environ[mental] disruption.

The result is a wonderful collection of stories, ranging from the tale of a girl who gathers rivers in her body, in The Girl Named Uku/phaza/mi/se/ka by Philisiwe Twijnstra, to one who gathers the rain in her locs, in Five Years Next Sunday by Idza Luhumuyo, the winner of the 2019/2020 Short Story Day Africa prize.

Other great stories include Static by Alithnayn Abdulkareem, about a person who migrates from an uninhabitable Earth due to oxygen starvation, dehydration and drought, which are exacerbated by colonial exploitation of her home. She leaves her lover behind, and marries a coloniser. In Laatlammer, by J S Louw, a woman hides her son from her neighbour because of a one-child policy. The story is told from the boy’s perspective. In Shelter, by Mbozi Haimbe, a mother tries desperately to find shelter from a corrosive dust storm. Lycaon Pictus by Liam Brickhill, is about resource competition in a time of climate devastation. Before the Rains Came by Nadia Ahidjo is on resilience and saviourism in the Sahel. The Girl Who Laughed by Doreen Anyango tells the story of a climate refugee and orphan who ends up an abused, exploited domestic worker in Oman, dreaming of the mountains of home.


With stories from across Africa, from Libya, Uganda, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Kenya, Botswana and elsewhere, Disruption is excellent, full of imagination, and, like in all of the best literature, great social commentary.

[Eule Luftschloss · Rating 3 out of 5]

trigger warning
trauma, grief, torture, suicide, flood, earthquake, draught, stillborn child, mention of miscarriage, sexual harassment, starvation, misogyny, racism, infertility, death by fire, rape, human trafficking, being orphaned, genocide, kidnapping

While the topic of this short story anthology was very loose, somehow, most of the contributors wound up writing about a climate crisis. Some are about the planet Earth as a whole, while others are about single people living in this mess and their stories. Because everybody has them.

There was not a single badly written entry in this list. If this had not been an arc, if I had had more time, I think I would have liked these more, because taken together, they become very depressing.
The weirdness of the last story was very welcome and lifted my mood.

Please take a peek at the trigger warnings, because there are a lot.
I would like further works by these authors, especially if those should be thematically different. This felt far too real for my comfort.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

[Consuelo Roland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great showcase anthology for the many hugely talented writers whose stories were selected! Short Story Day Africa 2021 brings together a collection of emotionally charged and disturbing stories that have an eerie feel of prescience about them. It's a brilliant title and the cover artwork is fantastical and beautiful but it did make me expect/want (as one of the other reviewers mentioned) a broader sweep of plots/a greater variety of 'disruption' preoccupations and themes. Many of the stories were excruciatingly 'true' and very close to the bone and I could only read them in small chunks. I found myself constantly moved and unsettled in a way that hasn't happened to me for a while. Particular stories stood out for me, but every story was deserving of its inclusion, illuminating the importance of resistance to an impending future that only we can change. A few stories veered away from the climate change preoccupation (some terrifying and bold renditions of what that future might look like) and did something different, even humorous, and they seemed to cast a light on the other stories. It's a thought provoking collection that will stay with you.
Extra note: The quality of the writing is extremely high. The editors did a great job with very dense and intense stories, managing to keep the material under tight control while maintaining the unique writing styles and voices.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Medium floor, low ceiling, where none of these are outstanding and a few are tiresome (but thankfully they are all short). My favorites were Laatlammer, Objects In the Mirror Are Stranger Than They Appear, Shelter, When the Levees Break, and The Fish Tank Crab. Honorable mention for "Before the Rains Came" for its bitterness about the Nonprofit Industrial Complex.

Given that this is about the doom and gloom of climate change, it's a bit too much of a downer to recommend. I was hoping it would give an interesting perspective on life as an African. But it felt like it was written for a non-African audience. It didn't seem like Africans writing for Africans.

If you are passionate about Africa, short stories, and climate change, you would probably like this. But maybe not if just 2 of the 3.

[DesertSlug · Rating 3 out of 5]

I HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK YET. But I wanted to provide a list of the authors and what countries they are from in case people are using this book as part of their reading-of-the-world project.

Kevin Mogotsi - Botswana
Yefon Isabelle - Cameroon
Idza Luhumyo - Kenya
Najwa Binshatwan - Libya
Alithnayn Abdulkareem - Nigeria
Innocent Chizaram Ilo - Nigeria
Edwin Okolo - Nigeria
MacSmart Ojiludu - Nigeria
Nadia Ahidjo - based in Senegal
Victor Forna - Sierra Leone
J. S. Louw - South Africa
Philisiwe Twijnstra - South Africa
Nicholas A. Dawn - South Africa
Genna Gardini - South Africa
Doreen Anyango - Uganda
Kanyinsola Olorunnisola - Yoruba descent (Benin, Togo, Nigeria)
Mbozi Haimbe Mbozi - Zambia
Jacob M'hango - Zambia
Masiyaleti Mbewe - Zambia
Liam Brickhill - Zimbabwe
Melusi Nkomo - Zimbabwe

[Eliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. This was absolutely incredible! All of the stories were of such amazing quality, and continue to impress me the more I sit and think of them. They all center around a common theme, and I thought that worked very well to tie the collection together. It was so interesting to read dystopian from an African lens, as most dystopian is written through a western viewpoint. The interesting thing is that a lot of western dystopias are realities in countries in the global south. Some of these stories can be tied to true events of climate disasters, which makes them even more impactful and horrific. A lot of these climate disasters on the African continent are not reported on, and it seems a cruel irony that one way to make people take them seriously is to rebrand the story as a dystopia. So much of this is already occurring in Africa, and it is being underreported. That is why this collection is all too vital to our times. This is dystopia, and this is also reality. I enjoyed how there were portrayals of love and joy, and not always just despair and dread. This is such a high-caliber collection and I can’t wait to read more of Short Story Day Africa’s works!

[Alistair Mackay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this collection of stories from across Africa, almost all of which took the theme of “disruption” to explore the climate crisis, in very different styles and voices. Quirky and imaginative and unsettling. Anthologies are always a mixed bag, but the average quality of these stories is very good

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed quality in this anthology. I know the call for submissions explicitly mentioned climate change more than once, but I wish there were more ways of exploring disruption here. Essentially every story is bleak, which numbs the reader a bit over time. A few stood out - "Static", "Dorae's Song", and "Shelter"

[Desda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Burgeoning African writers. This collection of short stories it’s horrific and harrowing. Much of the collection is dystopian or speculative fiction. Can’t say I would recommend them because the writing Of most of them is rather sophomoric. There are a few gems to be had.

[Olivia Raiche-tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A high quality collection. Some stories were a little too on the nose for me - characters looking at the camera and going "I hope the reader sees that this climate change is happening to them already" - but over all a great time.

[Ross Lampert · Rating 2 out of 5]

The stories are well written, in a literary-fiction sort of way. And it's interesting to read stories written by African authors. But the stories are all unpleasant and depressing. One for the donation pile.

[Giulia Mar]

Faves: laatlammer, when the levees break, kin, the fish tank crab

[Jetamors · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite story in this one was "Shelter" by Mbozi Haimbe.