Who Fears Death is the story of Onyesonwu – her name means "who fears death" in Igbo – a woman with great magical powers who was conceived when her mother was raped during a battle. It beat South African novelist Lauren Beukes's Arthur C Clarke award-winning Zoo City, acclaimed Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay's Under Heaven and many-time British Fantasy award winner Graham Joyce's new novel The Silent Land to win the best novel award, judged by five authors and editors from the science fiction and fantasy genre.
Okorafor, born in the US to two Igbo parents, said it was "good to see a black writer win the prize in a genre dominated by whites", as well as to see a woman triumph in the male-dominated fantasy milieu. "What makes it even sweeter is this novel is very much about women, particularly African women," she said. Pointing to her fellow contenders for this year's best novel prize, NK Jemisin and Karen Lord, she said there were "a lot of dark faces on [the shortlist] this year. And the continent of Africa definitely made its presence known within the novels of several authors on the finalist list, too. There is a Nigerian proverb that goes, 'When the music changes so does the dance.' I think over the last several years the music within the genre has been changing and it's about to get really really interesting."
More at The Guardian.
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