Voodoonauts Presents: (Re)Living Mythology

The striking debut anthology from the Afrofuturist writers’ collective Voodoonauts gathers 15 magical stories and poems from across the African diaspora, all grounded in folklore and oral tradition. A theme of intergenerational connection runs throughout many of these pieces: in Tina Jenkins Bell’s “The Visit,” a mundane conflict between a mother and her adult son is complicated by visions of the spirit Walumbe, while S.O.F.’s “The Names We Take” follows a father who resorts to witchcraft to secure his infant daughter’s future. Eden Royce delivers intense body horror in “The Feeding of Closed Mouths,” the story of a skin-stealing “slipskin hag.” Ernestine-Vera Kabushemeye Gahimbare’s “Paying Forward” offers a fresh take on the trope of a mysterious helper in the woods. Readers venture through the realm of the gods in Tol Owolabi’s “Searching for Duni.” These fantasies are wonderfully sensory and visceral, dealing in inherited folk magic rather than high sorcery. Even readers unfamiliar with these tales’ folkloric roots will be drawn in—and may be compelled to learn more about the source material for each story. Highlighting several writers to watch, this impressive anthology is sure to win fans. (Nov.)