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Kevin Rigathi

@formerlykevin.bsky.social
370 followers 73 following 25 posts

Kenyan SFF writer. Podcaster. Artist. Words in: Will This Be A Problem?, Omenana, Ojuju Magazine. willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/2021/10/08…

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Reposted by Kevin Rigathi
Ivor W. Hartmann @ivorhartmann.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
The Nommo Award for Best Speculative Fiction Short Story Adelehin Ijasan, A Heap of Petrified Gods @adelehinijasan.bsky.social Kevin Rigathi, If Memory Serves @formerlykevin.bsky.social Plangdi Neple, Full, Empty Houses @plangdi.bsky.social ...
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Ivor W. Hartmann @ivorhartmann.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I'm sure @africansfs.bsky.social will put this out here, but in the meantime: Nommo Awards 2026 Shortlist Massive Congrats to everyone nominated and shortlisted! #AfricanSFF #Africanfuturism #booksky 🪐📚💙 ...
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
My sci fi story "If Memory Serves" is a Nommo award nominee in the best short story category! I couldn't be more excited. It's available to read here:
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
If Memory Serves – Will This Be A Problem?
No Memory For Sisyphus Human rights are constantly evolving. The more we learn, the clearer these rights become to us. Usually, our understanding of human right
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Read my fantasy story, "Beneath The Flower's Gaze", in @omenanamag.bsky.social issue no# 35. Come visit a mysterious, beautiful flower garden that tugs at your curiosity and invites you in...and find out why even the wind fears to accept that invitation omenana.com/2026/08/25/b...
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Oh and the art! Beneath The Flower's Gaze has 2 great interpretations. On the left, the official Omenana story art. This stunning piece by Sunny Efemena. Right, we have a variant piece by Peter Marco. I love how together they capture the story's day & night scenes omenana.com/2026/08/25/b...
Officiant Story cover by Sunny EfemenaVariant cover art by Peter Marco
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
My story "Beneath the Flower's Gaze" has published in Omenana Issue 35. I'm proud of this story, because it's so different from anything else I've written. It's an experimental, fantasy (horror-ish) story written to capture not just the image, but also a feeling that stuck with me since I was 8.
omenana.com
Beneath the flower’s gaze | Kevin Rigathi - omenana.com
The moon, bright and full, fought for her space against a cloudy night sky. Gusts of wind howled across the ocean, propelling waves with them in eruption
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
My story, "Beneath The Flower's Gaze" is in this. Please give it a read
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Ivor W. Hartmann @ivorhartmann.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
New Omenana issue #35 now out! @omenanamag.bsky.social @izom-chisom.bsky.social #AfricanSFF #Africanfuturism #booksky 🪐📚💙
omenana.com
Omenana Speculative Fiction Magazine Issue 35 August 2026 - omenana.com
ssue 35 of Omenana Speculative Fiction Magazine published August 2026 features writers from across Africa.
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Somto Ihezue @somtoihezue.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
A celebration in two parts! Excited to see Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology edited by Olivia Kidula and myself, on the 2025 Locus Recommended Reading List. Also excited to see my novelette, “We Begin Where Infinity Ends,” from @clarkesworldmagazine.com on this list.
locusmag.com
2025 Recommended Reading List
Welcome to the Locus Recommended Reading List… We saw some fabulous books come out last year and are so pleased to let you know about them! Our recommendations are compiled annually by the Locus re…
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Wole Talabi | Preorder THE FIST OF MEMORY @wtalabi.com · 05/02/2026
Alright. As is now tradition, here are my 10 favorite African SFF stories from 2025 📖 📚 Featuring tales from: @fiyahlitmag.bsky.social @clarkesworldmagazine.com @omenanamag.bsky.social @giganotosaurus.bsky.social @zamashort.com @khoreo.bsky.social @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social + more!
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Reactor Magazine @reactorsff.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
2025 was another great year for African short fiction! Author @wtalabi.com recommends 10 highlights across science fiction, fantasy, and horror, from "magic-for-wealth schemes" to an unsettling religious organization (in space). And if there's some ties in there...? We're not complaining.
reactormag.com
Ten(ish) of the Best African Speculative Short Fiction Stories of 2025 - Reactor
Here are some of the speculative fiction gems that may have flown under the radar in 2025...
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Plangdi Neple @plangdi.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
I'm honoured to see my story, "Full, Empty Houses," on this list and in fantastic company too. Thank you @wtalabi.com! The story is currently on the Locus Recommended Reading list: locusmag.com/2026/02/2025... Check it out, discover new work to love, and vote for your faves from last year!
locusmag.com
2025 Recommended Reading List
Welcome to the Locus Recommended Reading List… We saw some fabulous books come out last year and are so pleased to let you know about them! Our recommendations are compiled annually by the Locus re…
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Olivia Kidula @dontcallmeliv.blacksky.app · 05/02/2026
I’m always thrilled whenever stories from Issue V get love! Congratulations to @shingai-be-like.bsky.social & @formerlykevin.bsky.social! Read their stories & the rest of this stellar anthology for free on willthisbeaproblem.co.ke #AfricanSFF #KenyaMentioned
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
My story "If Memory Serves" made it to Reactor Mag's Ten(ish) of the Best African Speculative Short Fiction Stories of 2025. Its currently free to read on Will This Be A Problem? willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/2025/04/27/i...
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
If Memory Serves – Will This Be A Problem?
No Memory For Sisyphus Human rights are constantly evolving. The more we learn, the clearer these rights become to us. Usually, our understanding of human right
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Somto Ihezue @somtoihezue.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
A shoutout to my co-edioter & profoundly talented contributors: @dontcallmeliv.blacksky.app @ephraimorji.bsky.social, Rutendo Chidzodzo, @gabbyharry.bsky.social, Andrew Dakalira, @yvettel.bsky.social, @shingai-be-like.bsky.social, @formerlykevin.bsky.social, @vf12.bsky.social, @nkereuwxm.bsky.social
Infographic with a list of editors, artists, and contributors for Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology.

WILL THIS BE A PROBLEM? THE ANTHOLOGY:
ISSUE V (SHILTZA PUBLISHING)

EDITORS
Somto Ihezue & Olivia Kidula

ARTIST
Cover Art by Peter Marco

STORIES PUBLISHED
The Sirangori Fey Market by Ephraim N. Orji
I'm Home by Rutendo Chidzodzo
Something Cruel by Gabrielle Emem Harry
Ash Baby by Andrew Dakalira
Dinosaurs Once Lived Here by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu
The Market of Memories by Azara Tswanya
A Song of Ruin by Alex Tamei
Scales and Arabesques by Lucille Sambo
The Clans by Tonny Ogwa
Baby Potion by Matseliso Motsoane
Acceptance by Khaya Maseko
The Language We Have Learned To Carry In Our Skin by Shingai Kagunda
If Memory Serves by Kevin Rigathi Mr. Original Swag by Victor Forna
Commensalism, or the Labyrinth's Vessels by Albert Nkereuwem
Why Donkeys Have 44 Teeth by Peter Nena
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Here’s what @formerlykevin.bsky.social published in 2025 and where you can find his award-eligible gems. We’d be so grateful if you took a moment to read them, share them with people who might enjoy them, and vote if you haven’t already. Links below. #AfricanSFF 🪐📚💙
A promotional graphic set on a beige background with teal accents and subtle planet illustrations titled “Kevin Rigathi | 2025 Award Eligibility – For Your Consideration" 

The image lists two published short stories: 

Mushrooms Grow in the Dark, published by Ojuju Magazine, October 2025. 

Main text reads: Details the catastrophic unearthing of ancient stone structures around the world as they begin to crumble. These monuments may have served a far darker purpose than history remembers.

If Memory Serves, published in Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V, January 2025. 

Main text reads: A corporation which mass-produces a memory-wiping process profits by erasing memories but then selling them as luxuries to the rich and the privileged. The more people wipe memories, though, the less they remember. And the less they remember, the less they become.
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
In its review of Issue V, Afrocritik describes WTBAP as one of the continent’s sharpest engines of imagination, adding that the anthology earns its place not through sentiment but through sheer craft. 🧵 Read full review by @franknjugi.bsky.social: afrocritik.com/will-this-be... #AfricanSFF 🪐📚💙
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
The review features the following stories: “The Language We Have Learned to Carry in Our Skin” by @shingai-be-like.bsky.social “If Memory Serves” by @formerlykevin.bsky.social
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
“Mushrooms Grow in the Dark” by @formerlykevin.bsky.social in Ojuju Magazine’s Halloween Issue When ancient stone pillars begin to collapse across the world, they unearth that these monuments may have served a far darker purpose than history admits. 🔗 ojujumagazine.wordpress.com/2025/10/24/m...
Promotional graphic for “Mushrooms Grow in the Dark” by Kevin Rigathi, featured in Ojugu Magazine's Halloween Issue and shared by Will This Be A Problem? The background features a warm, brown texture with subtle, mushroom-like patterns. The title text is in teal and red, with the author’s name in green. Below is an illustrated cover showing a glowing, monstrous baby figure with outstretched hands and green eyes, set against a dark, earthy backdrop. Halloween-themed pumpkins decorate the bottom corners. WTBAP’s logo appears at the top, while the website link is displayed at the bottom.  Excerpt graphic for “Mushrooms Grow in the Dark” by Kevin Rigathi, published in Ojugu Magazine’s Halloween Issue and shared by Will This Be A Problem? The background features a warm, brown texture with abstract storm-cloud effects and subtle mushroom illustrations. Halloween-themed pumpkins decorate the bottom corners. WTBAP’s logo appears at the top, while Ojuju Magazine’s website link is displayed at the bottom.  

The excerpt reads: When I was a child, my cousins delighted in scaring me. They were older, with claims to secret knowledge that they, unlike the adults, would share with me. Once, during a visit, they told me something about our neighbour. The man would die, they said, because his compound was rotten with mushrooms. If you saw mushrooms in such numbers in a home, death always followed. Everyone, according to them, knew this. They were playing with me, of course. Teasing in the time-honoured tradition of older cousins. Yet, our neighbour died the following week when they were gone and could not take back their words, and the story calcified into a kind of truth in my young mind. In the face of this creature, my mind dug up this old story and named the thing Obuoba. Mushroom. Because of its skin. Because it broke things down and absorbed them. Because it had been growing all this time, in the dark. Because it was a harbinger of death.
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
I wrote a horror short story for Halloween. Stonehenge, Kenya's Lothagam North, Ethiopia's Tiya Megaliths, the Mudumal Megalithic Menhirs... these pillar sites, and all others around the world, are connected by a terrifying secret. Find out what it is in: "Mushrooms Grow In The Dark"
ojujumagazine.wordpress.com
Mushrooms Grow in the Dark
Kevin Rigathi Roadblocks are up all over Salisbury. Multiple choke points, and they’re turning everyone back, locals, tourists, and they’re extra unfriendly with the press. Get this, we have milita…
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
I have a new horror story in Ojuju Magazine's Halloween Issue. Check out "Mushrooms Grow in the Dark" Learn the terrifying truth connecting all pillar sites around the world, from Stonehenge to Kenya's Lothgam North to the Mudumal Megalithic Menhirs ojujumagazine.wordpress.com/2025/10/24/m...
ojujumagazine.wordpress.com
Mushrooms Grow in the Dark
Kevin Rigathi Roadblocks are up all over Salisbury. Multiple choke points, and they’re turning everyone back, locals, tourists, and they’re extra unfriendly with the press. Get this, we have milita…
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine Issue 2 is now out. For your fix of African horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/will-this-be...
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine Issue 2
Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine : Issue 2. This edition features speculative fiction from Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and the USA.
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
We're excited to announce that Issue 2 of Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine is now live and free to read on our website! This issue brings back familiar voices alongside striking debuts, showcasing speculative fiction in its different forms: willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/will-this-be...
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine Issue 2
Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine : Issue 2. This edition features speculative fiction from Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and the USA.
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Our first SFF Quiz Night is calling, and your brainpower deserves a proper stage. This one's for all bookworms, bibliophiles and film buffs. 📍 Athena Lounge, Hurlingham | 📅 25th July | 🕒 5–10 PM Prizes? Epic Drinks? Sorted DJ? Ready Entry? Free Register team: willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/rsvp/
Poster for our first-ever SFF quiz night presented by WTBAP
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
Our first newsletter is live on Substack with WTBAP updates and yes, early access to Issue 2 of our magazine. If you've already subscribed, check your mail. If you haven't, subscribe now and get the exclusives instantly! willthisbeaproblem.substack.com/p/early-access…
Foreword from Olivia on Issue 2 of WTBAP? The Magazine
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
My story "If Memory Serves" is now available online! In a world where memories are commodities that can be permanently taken from a person and sold to another, what does this mean for culture, relationships, identity... or even your own reality. willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/2025/04/27/i...
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
If Memory Serves
No Memory For Sisyphus Human rights are constantly evolving. The more we learn, the clearer these rights become to us. Usually, our understanding of human rights comes from ethical discussions, but so...
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Harare Review of Books @hararereview.com · 12/03/2025
Will This Be A Problem? Issue V. Edited by Olivia Kidula and Somto Ehezue. 💙📚 #AfricanSFF
hararereview.wordpress.com
Will This Be A Problem? Issue V. Edited by Olivia Kidula and Somto Ehezue.
308 pp. Published January 4, 2025. Love African SFF! I’m a huge fan. The finished quality isn’t always even, and I confess I often get grumpy about editing quality (I’m not proud of this)—but there…
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V paperback now up for international sales on Lulu Bookstore www.lulu.com/shop/somto-i...
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
This is how I'm walking everywhere at home now and one day, im going to forget and do it in public. Thanks Kendrick. "Ayy, I'm trippin', I'm slidin', I'm ridin' through the back like, Baow!"
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
In my story, "If Memory Serves," tech designed to extract traumatic memories evolves, & a breakthrough allows any memory to be extracted & implanted in another mind. As memories become commodities, new forms of privilege & oppression arise, reshaping culture, relationships & individual realities.
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Will This Be A Problem? Issue V is out! My story "If Memory Serves" is featured in this anthology. Check it out
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
WTBAP? THE ANTHOLOGY ISSUE V is finally out! Edited by @dontcallmeliv.bsky.social & @somtoihezue.bsky.social, available on the Shilitza website, Kobo, Amazon, and wherever books are sold. 16 hauntingly beautiful stories from all over Africa and the African diaspora ✨ www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebook/...
shilitzapublishing.com
Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology : Issue V (ebook)
From across the African continent and its diaspora, Will This Be A Problem? Issue V brings together a powerful collection of stories that blend the fantastical with the deeply real. These tales explor...
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V ebook up for sale. Shilitza Publishing Lulu Bookstore Amazon And more willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/issue-5/
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
Issue 5
Buy Now
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: ISSUE V - Book Launch LIVE STREAM www.youtube.com/live/6Sp2F1R...
youtube.com
YouTube
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
We're beyond ecstatic that one of the stories from our FIRST mag issue—The Future Ancients by Mwenya Chikwa—has been featured on this list. There are lots of other great recs in here, including 3 writers who appear in our upcoming anthology: Shingai Kagunda, Albert Nkereuweum, & Gabrielle E Harry!
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Join us for Will This Be A Problem? ISSUE V launch on Jan 31! Celebrate 10 years of WTBAP with cocktails, conversation & more. My story, "If Memory Serves" is featured in the anthology. 📍 Athena Lounge, Olive Gardens Hotel, Hurlingham ⏰ 5–9 PM EAT | Live stream available!
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Reading the news nowadays feels like someone fed the simulation sci fi books (and included too much dystopia). But seriously, so much is going on, some usually big news doesn't even register anymore. What do you mean google just casually kicked off the countdown to the age of quantum computing!?
fortune.com
Google’s breakthrough Willow chip means we'll get useful quantum computers sooner than some people feared
Experts caution that revolutionary quantum computing is still likely years away.
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
This week, 10 years ago, I published 'A War of Harmony,' an urban fantasy with some ideas exploring symmetry. This morning, as if called by some unseen thread, inspiration had a new idea in the same world waiting for me. I love it when that happens. While I dive in, read the original here:
willthisbeaproblem.co.ke
A War of Harmony
Recently, I have become taken with an idea. It started as a joke, but day by day, I feel that there is truth in it—some undeniable quality that I cannot resist. Yes, there is something here. — The Dia...
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
"Orgasms are taboo, an excess of pleasure discouraged." Read "Nonchalant" by Cheryl S Ntumy, from Issue IV of Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/2020/04/09/n... #africansff
A pull quote from Cheryl S. Ntumy's short story "Nonchalant", published in Issue IV of Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology.

"I'm not allowed to work (it triggers my condition), and she only works when she feels like it, so often our days are spent lying on the carpet, watching old films and making lazy love until my drugs wear off and I get too excited. Sex is supposed to be relaxing. Orgasms are taboo, an excess of pleasure discouraged."
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
"To get to Okanowach, several things have to happen at once." Read "A Guide To Okanowach" by Florence Onyango here: willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/2024/11/05/a...
A pull quote from Florence Onyango's "A Guide To Okanowach", available in Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine: Issue 1. The text is imposed over a blue background, with a man on the left, a giant in the middle and a woman on the right.

"To get to Okanowach, several things have to happen at once. One, it has to be on a moonless night. Two, there has to be an overcast sky. Third, you have to get there by midnight sharp. Fourth and most important of all, you must know how to haul the voices that whisper beneath whistling winds, for Okanowach is fluid, and the voices alone know how to get there. Five, you must use an ostrich’s feather to trap the specific voices that will guide you to Okanowach; if you use any other feather, you might trap some maleficent resonance."
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
"Masika was a child of death." Motion Sickness - Franscine Machinda (Kenya) willthisbeaproblem.co.ke/2024/11/05/m... #africansffh
A pull quote from Franscine Machinda's "Motion Sickness", available in Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine: Issue 1. The white text is imposed over a blue background, with a man on the left, a giant in the middle and a woman on the right.

"Masika was a child of death.

She had been cut from her mother’s belly only minutes after her death, and as a result, her eyelids remained shut for the first three weeks of her life. Later, she would jest about how those had been the best weeks of her entire life."
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Kevin Rigathi @formerlykevin.bsky.social · 12/11/2024
Me (once again) running to learn a whole new skill knowing I have story and podcast episode (months) behind schedule.
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Will This Be A Problem? @willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social · 08/11/2024
What we are REALLY excited to share is our upcoming release! Edited by @somtoihezue.bsky.social & @dontcallmeliv.bsky.social, Issue V contains 16 original stories of fantasy, science fiction, surrealism and horror by African authors and authors of African descent living in the Diaspora ✨
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