Tlotlo Tsamaase

Tlotlo Tsamaase is a Motswana speculative fiction writer and poet whose writing has been nominated for or won numerous awards.

Her fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, Strange Horizons, Africanfuturism: An Anthology, Africa Risen, and more.

Life and career

Tsamaase earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Botswana as well as an MFA in creative writing from Chapman University.^[1] She has said that "studying architecture brought [her] to science fiction."^[2]

Her first novella, The Silence of the Wilting Skin, was published in 2021 by Pink Narcissus Press and was nominated for a Lambda Award in the LGBTQ Speculative Fiction category.^[3] Her first novel, Womb City, was published by Erewhon Books in 2024^[4] and was nominated for a Locus Award for Best First Novel.^[5] It was also a finalist for the 2025 Ignyte Award for Outstanding Novel. ⁷

Her fiction has appeared in publications such as Clarkesworld Magazine, The Best of World Science Fiction Volume 1, Futuri uniti d'Africa, Terraform, Strange Horizons, Africanfuturism: An Anthology, Africa Risen, The Dark Magazine, and The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction.

She is currently represented by Naomi Davis of BookEnds Literary Agency.^[6]

She is Motswana.^[1]

Awards and nominations

|- ! scope="row" | 2011 | Unlettered Skies of the Sublime | Best Novel | Bessie Head Short Story Awards | | | ^[7] |- ! scope="row" rowspan="2"|2017 | I Will Be Your Grave | Best Poem | Rhysling Award | | | ^[8] |- | "Virtual Snapshots" | | Nommo Award | | Longlist | ^[8] |- ! scope="row" rowspan="3"|2021 | rowspan="2" |The Silence of the Wilting Skin | LGBTQ Speculative Fiction | Lambda Award | | | ^[9] |- | Best Novella | rowspan="3"| Nommo Award | | | ^[10] |- | "Behind Our Irises" | Best Short Story | | Joint winner | ^[11] |- ! scope="row" rowspan="1"|2022 | "Dreamports" | Best Short Story

| | | ^[12] |- ! scope="row" rowspan="1"|2023 | "Peeling Time (Deluxe Edition)" | | rowspan="1"| Caine Prize | | Shortlist | ^[13] |- ! scope="row" rowspan="2"|2025 | scope="row" rowspan="2"|Womb City | Best First Novel | rowspan="1"| Locus Award | | Top ten finalist | ^[14] |- |Best Novel |Nommo Award | | |^[15]

Selected bibliography

Fiction — short stories

• "Who Will Clean Our Spirits When We Are Gone?", The Dark Magazine
• "The River of Night", The Dark Magazine
• "Eclipse Our Sins", Clarkesworld Magazine
• "Behind Our Irises", in Wole Talabi, editor, Africanfuturism: An Anthology (2020)
• "The River of Night" in Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, editor, The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction (2021)
• "Peeling Time (Deluxe Edition)", in Sheree Renée Thomas, Zelda Knight, and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, editor, Africa Risen (2022)
• "Dreamports" in Apex Magazine (2022)

Fiction — novels and novellas

• The Silence of the Wilting Skin (2020)
• Womb City (2024)

References

1. ^ "About". Tlotlo Tsamaase. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
2. ^ "When the Sensibility of Art Meets the Pragmatism of Science: A Conversation with Tlotlo Tsamaase, by Darlington Chibueze Anuonye". World Literature Today. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
3. ^ "The Silence of the Wilting Skin". PINK NARCISSUS PRESS. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
4. ^ "Ian Mond Reviews Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase". Locus Online. 2024-02-24. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
5. ^ locusmag (2025-05-02). "2025 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists". Locus Online. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
6. ^ "New Client Alert". BookEnds Literary Agency. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
7. ^ "Winners of the Bessie Head Literature Awards from 2007 through 2011"
8. ^ "Tlotlo Tsamaase"
9. ^ Jim Provenzano, "Lambda Literary Awards 2021 finalists announced". Bay Area Reporter, March 15, 2021.
10. ^ "2021 Nommo Awards Shortlist"
11. ^ "The Nommo Awards, for African Speculative Fiction, Announces 2021 Winners"
12. ^ "2022 Nommo Awards Shortlist"
13. ^ "2023 Caine Prize Shortlist"
14. ^ "2025 Locus Award Top Ten Finalists"
15. ^ "2025 Ilube Award for Best Novel Finalists". Retrieved November 28, 2025.

External links

• Official website