Cape Town-based author Imraan Coovadia has scored a nomination in an international science fiction literary awards event to be held next month.
Coovadia’s short story titled Vast and Cool and Unsympathetic has been shortlisted in the Best Story in the Foreign Language category in the International Science Fiction Literary Award: Future History.
The director of the University of Cape Town’s Creative Writing Centre is among 27 authors who have been shortlisted from more than 2,400 submissions received from authors around the world.
He said the shortlisted story was inspired by “psychological consequences” suffered by people in Nairobi, Kenya and Johannesburg who had been hired to screen and classify disturbing content on Facebook.
“I thought it was an interesting problem to explore: Facebook imperialism,” Coovadia said.
The winner of the 2010 Sunday Times Literary Award’s fiction prize said he hoped his writing could be impactful to those who read his work.
“About recognition: it comes and goes. I’d like some of my experiments to be useful to others,” Coovadia told TimesLIVE.
About his latest work which ventures into history and philosophy with his writing, Coovadia said: “I may not be a good balancer. I try though. Ideas and concepts can appear in the flow of a story but a story is always first about feelings.”
The awards which were established by the Foundation for the Promotion of Scientific, Educational and Communication Initiatives with the support of Rosatom, a Moscow-headquartered state nuclear company, are now in the first stage of voting.
The awards saw writers from China, Russia, several African, Asian, European and South American countries submitting their work.
Andrey Timonov, director of communications at Rosatom, stated: “We see how science fiction is no longer just a literary genre, but a bridge between bold ideas and real technologies.”
He said the narratives presented by the authors reflected key trends in modern science: sustainable development, green energy, artificial intelligence and space exploration.
“Supporting this award is an investment in the future, an inspiration for the next generation of scientists, engineers and dreamers who will build tomorrow’s world,” Timonov said.
The total prize fund for the awards exceeds 5 million rubles (about R1m), with each category winner getting a monetary prize.
The award will be held under the theme: The world of the 22nd century and challenges for humanity.
The award ceremony will take place on November 6 at the Atom Museum in Moscow, Russia.
TimesLIVE
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