Lawino Festival of Speculative Fiction is an annual literary and arts festival in Kampala, with a special focus on science fiction, fantasy, and horror by African writers and artists. The event happens over a three-day period in Kampala, and features author readings, book launches, panel discussions, writing workshops and masterclasses, cosplay parties and theatrical shows, among other activities.
The main event will be held in art spaces around Kampala, while other events will be online to enable participation from all over the continent.
The festival is founded by Dilman Dila and the inaugural edition is being organized by a committee of volunteers, who are art practitioners within Kampala, as well as with the African Speculative Fiction Society.
Aims
1) The overall aim is to promote the appreciation and readership of speculative fiction within Kampala, and East Africa in general, by bringing together fans and creators of the genre to celebrate recent and classic works related to and by African authors.
2) To create a platform where young people are free to express themselves without limit to their imagination, through cosplay in a manner that encourages a decolonization of thinking.
Partners
Ododo Press is a publisher of speculative fiction based in Kampala.
Folded Pages is a bookshop based in Kampala.
An African Bookshelf is one of the most vibrant book clubs in Kampala, with members meeting once every month to discuss a book by an African author.
African Speculative Fiction Society is an association of African writers, and it organizes the annual Nommo Awards.
The organizing committee for the inaugural edition is composed of seven individuals, who include four writers, Dilman Dila, Atukunda Rachael Mutabingwa, Hadijjah N. Sebunya, and Sanyu Sandra, a curator and cultural programmer, Rachel Kizza, and a bookseller, Maureen Andinda. Read more about their bios on this page.