African writers and editors have been named finalists across multiple categories in the 2026 Ignyte Awards, the annual prize organized by FIYAH Literary Magazine to celebrate outstanding storytelling in science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
The finalists were announced on June 8, 2026. Public voting is open through August 16, with winners to be decided by reader ballots.
Nigerian-British author Oyinkan Braithwaite is up for Outstanding Novel: Adult for Cursed Daughters, published by Doubleday.
She is joined in the category by Nigerian-American writer Tochi Onyebuchi, nominated for Harmattan Season (Tor Books), a fantasy noir novel set in West Africa. Onyebuchi, born in Massachusetts to Igbo immigrant parents, has built a body of work steeped in Nigerian-inspired fantasy, including Beasts Made of Night and the War Girls series.
Also shortlisted in the same category is British-Nigerian author M. H. Ayinde, for her epic fantasy A Song of Legends Lost (Saga Press).
In the novella category, Wole Talabi is a finalist for Descent, published in Clarkesworld Magazine.
The Outstanding Novelette category features Somto Ihezue’s story We Begin Where Infinity Ends, published in Clarkesworld in February 2025, which recently won the 2026 Locus Award for Best Novelette and is also a Nebula Award finalist.
In Outstanding Short Story, Nigerian speculative fiction writer Albert Nkereuwem is shortlisted for ‘Commensalism, Or the Labyrinth’s Vessels’, published by Will This Be a Problem.
African writers and editors also feature prominently in the Outstanding Anthology/Collected Works category. As the Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories, edited by Terese Mason Pierre, includes contributions from Nigerian writers and editors:
- Chinelo Onwualu
- Chimedum Ohaegbu
- Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga (Spiderline)
- Suyi Davies Okungbowa
- Francesca Ekwuyasi
The same category includes The Black Fantastic: 20 Afrofuturist Stories, edited by André M. Carrington for Library of America, which features:
- Tochi Onyebuchi
- P. Djèlí Clark
- Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and other incredible contributing writers
The Ignyte Awards have been presented annually since 2020 and are decided entirely by public vote. Winners will be announced later this year.
To vote, kindly click HERE for more information.
