The 82nd World Science Fiction Convention came to Glasgow between August 8th and 12th, 2024, as members of the African Speculative Fiction Society, SFF authors, publishers, and other industry stakeholders from around the world convened at the Scottish Events Campus.
The event saw the winners of the annual Hugo Awards and Nommo Awards announced, with Binti author Nnedi Okorafor, Terri Windling, Ken MacLeod, Mark Plummer, Chris Baker, and Claire Brialey appearing as guests of honour.
The five-day event featured exhibits, orchestras, panel discussions, and several other exciting activities.
The event featured some of the biggest names in the fast-rising African Speculative Fiction genre, including M.H Ayinde, Nnedi Okorafor, Suyi Davies Okungbowa and the first black Asimov's Science Fiction award winner, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki.
The 7th Nommo Awards winners were also announced at the Glasgow event, with wins for Wole Talabi, Stephen Embleton, and Gabrielle Ememe, among others.
"With an attendance numbering in the thousands, it was impossible to meet and greet everyone I wanted to. Nevertheless, I had one of the most amazing times, felicitations with some of the most incredible creatives ever. Totally worth the effort and cost of obtaining a UK visa in Nigeria", said Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki.
In a touch of class to illuminate proceedings, Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon author Wole Talabi announced that he'd be permanently excluding himself from future Nommo Awards to allow authors more opportunities for recognition.
I’ve been thinking about the future of the Nommo awards and the ASFS in general and what its meant to do in terms of building community and spotlighting important, valuable work. And one of the most important things about community is uplifting other people, so what I am going to do is what we something describe in Nigeria as “drink and drop the cup” – which is a reference to drinking from a community water resource like a well where a cup is kept nearby for anyone who wants to access the water to take a small amount, drink and leave the cup for the next person who needs it. One of the worst things you can do is drink and take the cup away with you or hold on to it for too long while others thirst. I have won the Nommo award for best short story with “The Regression Test” in 2018, won for best novella in 2020 for “Incompleteness Theories” and now with this, I’ve won for best novel in 2024. That’s 3 wins in the prose categories. I’m very grateful for those wins but I’m not going to be one of those people that holds on too long, consistently winning the same award over and over when there are so many other deserving people. I’ve had enough to drink from this well. Now I want to make space for others to win. To drink from the community well. So from today onwards, no matter what I do, no matter what I write, I am permanently withdrawing from consideration from the Nommo awards. There are many other African authors doing great work within and from outside the continent and I want to give space for you all to recognize, spotlight and uplift them as well. This will also enable me to help more behind the scenes in supporting the ASFS and Nommo awards specifically as I have always believed that no one involved in administering the award in any capacity should be eligible for them and that has limited my ability to volunteer in the past. Now I can go behind the curtain and work to give others the spotlight. I look forward to continuing one of the things I enjoy doing most – highlighting great African speculative fiction and promoting it as best I can.
-Wole Talabi
Several authors in the fantasy genre were also present at Worldcon Glasgow 2024, including Joe Abercrombie (A Little Hatred), Ben Galley, Krystle Matar (Legacy of the Brightwash), Dyrk Ashton, Nicholas Eames, Travis Baldree, Garth Nix, Richard Swan, P.L Stuart, Michael R. Miller, Ryan Cahill (Of Blood and Fire) and the legendary G.R.R Martin.
The full list of Hugo Award winners can be found here.
Worldcon, officially known as the World Science Fiction Convention, is an annual gathering organized by the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). Since its inception in 1939, with the exception of the World War II years (1942-1945), this event has been held every year.
Worldcon attendees automatically gain membership in the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), giving them the right to vote on the location of future conventions for the next two years and to choose the recipients of the prestigious Hugo Awards, which are presented at each convention.
