NOMBONO: An Anthology of Speculative Poetry by BIPOC Creators From Around the World edited by Akua Lezli Hope

In the stunning and imaginative NOMBONO: An Anthology of Speculative Poetry by BIPOC Creators From Around the World, we are presented with visions, invocations, foretellings, and bold harbingers. NOMBONO, drawing from the Zulu word for “visionary,” brings together mystical dreams and possibilities that are at times both striking and devastating. This anthology asks: are we on a bright threshold or at the edge of a dark precipice? Are we about to take flight and evolve or plummet into cataclysm? Around each corner in this book there may be a hyena man, salmon women, Mananggal, prayers, or curses. There is steady, unbroken eye contact, and there is fierce joy and fury. Here we have the limitless, boundless exploration of resplendent worlds.

“What a delight to read this groundbreaking anthology, which arrives at such a timely fulcrum in our galaxy of arts and letters. NOMBONO is a deeply ambitious collection by BIPOC speculative poets across the globe, in their own words, on their own terms, and the results are glorious. Under Akua Lezli Hope’s meticulous editing we see an impressive range of both established and emerging voices who consistently challenge our expectations and boundaries with their verse. In this collection you’ll learn of everything from the Hyena Men to the incident when Siri turned down a marriage proposal. Apprentice pearl-divers mingle with ravenous Manananggal, Salmon Woman and so many remarkable and memorable characters in these pages. Some familiar, some less so, but each ably introduced to you by their authors. Each of these remarkable poets is expanding our language of possibility and definitively affirm that we are light years away from exhausting all of the potential ideas speculative poetry might bring to the world. Read on, read on, read on!”
-Bryan Thao Worra, SFPA President (2016-2022)

“The masterful Akua Lezli Hope is the quiet conductor of this transformative poetry collection, with work from around the world, each solo piece glows against the infinite dark/light background of galactic imaginations. Here, we are reminded that the blood of ancestors, whispering in our DNA, still sings of the stars to all souls, now and forever.”
-Linda D. Addison, award-winning author, HWA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and SFPA Grand Master.