Spotlight on: Omenana
Tell us about your magazine, Omenana. When was it founded, and who’s on the publishing team? What is your mission?
Omenana was cofounded in 2014 by Chiagozie Fred Nwonwu (AKA Mazi Nwonwu) and Chinelo Onwualu. Presently, Omenana’s publishing team comprises Mazi Nwonwu, managing editor; Iquo DianaAbasi, editor; Godson Okeiyi, graphic artist; Sunny Efemena, illustrator; and Chinaza, editorial assistant.
Omenana’s mission is to develop the writing and reading of speculative fiction in Africa.
What inspired you to start the magazine? What does the name Omenana mean?
The principal driving force behind the founding of Omenana was the need to create a platform for the development and showcase of speculative fiction by writers from Africa and the African diaspora. Before Omenana, there wasn’t any platform solely dedicated to speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, horror, etc).
Omenana is the Igbo word for culture. We picked the name because speculative fiction closely aligns with the African oral storytelling, which teems with otherworldly motifs. So since speculative fiction is inherent in our traditional storytelling, we felt the Igbo word for culture would best show our desire for Africans to own this genre of storytelling.
Where should new readers start with the magazine? Is there a particular story or issue you’d like to especially highlight?
Omenana has been publishing steadily since 2014. As such, it would be difficult to point to a particular edition, as each is distinct. We will, however, recommend starting from the very first edition, Omenana Issue 1, and move on from there. It is important to start here because it shows the early promise of what became Africa’s premier speculative fiction magazine.
Are there trends in short fiction you are seeing, or trends you’d like to see?
We are seeing more African Futurism stories as more writers embrace the term coined by Nnedi Okorafor and become more adept at exploring a future where African cultures and worldviews thrive. We would very much like to see more science fiction, whether of the African Futuristic variant, or others.
What’s happening next? Are there any upcoming stories or other features you’re particularly excited about?
We are getting ready to publish our third edition of 2023, and that’s exciting. We do hope to make this year the third one where we publish four full editions. We will be running a special Nigerian speculative fiction edition in December 2023 as our last edition of the year, and this excites us. Last December, we published a special edition focused on South African speculative fiction. We plan to do an edition focusing on different parts of Africa each year.
What can readers do to help support the magazine?
Omenana speculative fiction magazine is still free to read, so much of the funding comes from the cofounder, Mazi Nwonwu. You can support Omenana by becoming a patron via Patreon (<www.patreon.com/OmenanaMagazine>).
FOR MORE FROM OUR FOCUS ON SHORT FICTION ISSUE…
While you are here, please take a moment to support Locus with a one-time or recurring donation. We rely on reader donations to keep the magazine and site going, and would like to keep the site paywall free, but WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL SUPPORT to continue quality coverage of the science fiction and fantasy field.
©Locus Magazine. Copyrighted material may not be republished without permission of LSFF.
