Stories can change the way we imagine our futures. A book about a doorway to another universe, or a magical amulet, might not be rooted in reality but the messages that these stories carry within them generate new possibilities and shape the way we think about our shared histories. Afrofuturism is a term created by the cultural critic Mark Deary in 1994. Deary used the term Afrofuturism to describe African literature, music and art which fused with various elements of science fiction, but it doesn’t stop there – the term presents us with a way of thinking about black culture in a way that is not fixed in time or space. What could that mean? The books listed below encompass many genres, but they also test their limits; these ‘futuristic’ stories are all radical in their literary exploration of power, freedom and imagination.
Download our Adult Afrofuturism Reading List.
Download our Children Young Adult Afrofuturism Reading List.