Oct 13, 2023
In this episode of Griots & Galaxies, Jenna and Chinelo sit down with award-winning author Tlotlo Tsamaase. In this conversation, Tlotlo talks with us about queerness, the dead, and how African surrealist stories illuminate the politics of African urban landscapes.
Tlotlo Tsamaase is a Motswana author. Tlotlo's debut adult novel, Womb City, comes out in January 2024 from Erewhon Books. Xer novella, The Silence of the Wilting Skin, is a 2021 Lambda Literary Award finalist and was shortlisted for a 2021 Nommo Award. Tlotlo has received support from the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, and xer story “Behind Our Irises”, is the joint winner of the Nommo Award for Best Short Story. Tlotlo's short fiction has appeared in Africa Risen, The Best of World SF Volume 1, Clarkesworld, Terraform, and Africanfuturism Anthology and is forthcoming in Chiral Mad 5 and other publications. Xe obtained a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Botswana and won an award for design architecture. Tlotlo is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at Chapman University.
Griots & Galaxies is produced by the Center for Science and the Imagination, with support from the Institute for Humanities Research and The Transformation Project, all at Arizona State University. The podcast is created and hosted by Jenna Hanchey, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu, and Chinelo Onwualu, with the assistance of sound engineer Bailey Pyritz. The theme music is performed by Sonja Branch and Dethie Sarr Diouf.