Pen’s Pals: Writing Sci-Fi in South Africa

Anwar Bey grew up in Southern California, but spent his formative, young adult years in San Francisco. He moved to the Bay Area to live out his dream of creating video games. Then in 2021, after spending a decade in Northern California, he moved to Johannesburg, South Africa. That's where he's found the clarity to write about the future. Bey is the author of a series of sci-fi stories titled, The Book of Woldu. It's an exploration of love, family and intergalactic time travel from the perspective of an East African family. Bey says his time spent traveling the continent, talking to people and experiencing life from a new perspective, has allowed him to pen these stories and further develop his multimedia platform, PLASMAWorlds.  When asked why it's important to tell stories about Black futures, he jokingly responds, "Because we're out here." He follows up by saying, "... we're going to exist in the future just as powerfully as we exist in the present and so that's why I'm creating this work to inspire." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices