Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor has been shortlisted for the 2026 Glass Bell Award for her novel Death of the Author.
Death of the Author is one of six books selected for the shortlist by Goldsboro Books, drawn from an initial longlist of 12 novels, and marks the 10th anniversary of the literary award.
Published by Gollancz, Death of the Author centers around the character of Zelunjo “Zelu,” a Nigerian-American author who writes a science fiction novel called Rusted Robots, which suddenly thrusts her into literary stardom. This sets off a sequence of events that dramatically upends Zelu’s life and puts her directly in conflict with her parents and siblings. Okorafor’s story explores the perils of fame, the challenges of navigating challenging family dynamics, and the agency of people with disabilities.
In February, Death of the Author won the 2026 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction. It later won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, while also becoming a finalist for the 2026 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
Nnedi Okorafor is a Nigerian-American author of African-based science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism for children and adults. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Nigerian parents, she is the author of Who Fears Death, Lagoon, The Book of Phoenix, the Binti novella trilogy, Death of the Author, among others.
Her debut novel, Zahrah the Windseeker, won the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa, while Who Fears Death received the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Binti, the first book in the trilogy, won the Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novella. She has also received the Locus and Lodestar awards and was nominated for an Eisner Award.
She has written comics for Marvel, including Black Panther: Long Live the King, Wakanda Forever, and Shuri. Her science-fiction comic LaGuardia, published by Dark Horse, won the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story and the Eisner Award for Best New Series.
The winner of the 2026 Glass Bell Award will be announced on October 1, with the winner set to receive a £2,000 prize.
Congratulations, Nnedi Okorafor!
