Wole Talabi

Early life and education Talabi was raised in Warri, Delta, a city in southern Nigeria, where his father was a chemical engineer, before later moving to Benin.

His works include an amount of short stories; the anthologies These Words Expose Us: An Anthology (2014), Lights Out: Resurrection (2016), Africanfuturism: An Anthology (2020).

Incomplete Solutions, published in 2019, was Talabi's first published collection of short stories, covering five years of his writing. The stories are from a range of speculative genres but also include non-speculative romance, and they explore contradicting philosophies and levels of hope, but often have themes of choice and identity. They embed Nigerian culture and perspectives without explaining them to unfamiliar readers. Adri Joy, reviewing for Strange Horizons, praised the intriguing, fun and varied nature of the stories, while wishing for fewer male-centered or chauvinistic perspectives.

Talabi published his debut novel Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon in 2023. Shigidi is a Yoruba god of nightmares who wants to get out of his minimum wage job at the Orisha Spirit Company. Shigidi's lover Nneoma, a succubus, helps him pull off a heist so he can leave: they have been tasked with stealing back the heavily protected brass head of Obulafon from the British Museum. Chris Kluwe, reviewing for Lightspeed, praised the novel and said the pair's relationship and themes of capitalism and colonialism drive the story.

Convergence Problems, a collection released in 2024, focused on more traditional science fiction themes, with ideas, characterization, and Nigerian culture driving the pieces.

He was described in Scientific American as "an author who blends transhumanism and the Turing test".

Talabi has been a manager of a database of speculative fiction by African authors on the African Speculative Fiction Society website. Talabi is a founding charter member of the society.

Personal life He married Rocío Vizuete Fernandez in 2023 at Madrid, Spain.

Awards and recognition

+ Year Work Award Category Result 2017 Nommo Award Best Short Story 2018 2020 Incompleteness Theories Best Novella Best Short Story 2022 Nommo Award Best Short Story Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award — Sidewise Award for Alternate History Short Form 2023 Hugo Award Novelette Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology BSFA Award Collection 2024 Mothersound: The Sauútiverse Anthology British Fantasy Award Anthology Locus Award Anthology Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon British Fantasy Award Fantasy Novel Crawford Award — Ignyte Award Adult Novel Nommo Award Novel World Fantasy Award Novel 2025 Descent BSFA Award Shorter Fiction Nebula Award Novella 2026 Seiun Award Translated Short Story Descent Ignyte Award Novella

After winning his third Nommo Award in 2024, and having won on all three prose categories, he announced that he would decline any future nominations to clear the field for new writers.