Stephen Embleton

My latest short story, Journal of a DNA Pirate , was published in the latest anthology AfroSFv3 . Background: In 2010, while writing my speculative fiction novel, Soul Searching, and having sent it to a top SA publisher (waiting and waiting) I decided to carry on writing. But I wanted something simple and not as bogged down in size as a novel. I decided a blog style story would work to be able to write every day (almost every day) and rather than having a preconceived idea of where the story needed to go, I would take each day where I left off. I left it for a while (no ending done) and then revisited it in 2011. And that was it. During this time I had two large publishers in SA take the Soul Searching manuscript for two years each (with revisions done) before they finally rejected (first – 2009-2011; second – 2011-2013). I took that as a sign that my writing had something to it. I carried on tweaking the novel. Then in 2014, Fox & Raven publishers in SA had a call for

My latest short story, The Girl with Two Bodies , was published this week at The Kalahari Review. A story about functioning in a world not made for you, finding your place in the world within and not just the world outside yourself. Read it online: https://kalaharireview.com/the-girl-with-two-bodies-b6b6093f8012

My short story, Inktober , in eerie company in this latest anthology. Check it out. 👻 Stories by: Brett Rex Bruton, Janine Milne, Stephen Embleton, William Burger, Shaun van Rensburg, Livingston Edwards, Lester Walbrugh, Jessica Liebenberg, Erhu Amreyan, Toby Bennett, Mignotte Mekuria, and Blaize M Kaye. Bloody Parchment: Remains of an Old World offers you a selection of fantastical and sometimes downright unsettling tales that will drag you to dark places, in settings real or imagined. Find out more here:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42831876-bloody-parchment?fbclid=IwAR03oLwlBDvuycbDgk0-23sRV2fD1SoF5ifKNG8_0NfOwy19okbp9AvNfTg

 (9 November 2018) 24 December 1945 – 3 November 2018 Pat Embleton was first and foremost my mother – that is how I saw her early on – but as I grew older, I came to see who she was in the world – and over the past week, who she was to all of you. And it is this dichotomy, for me, the person of contrasts that I got to experience over the past 44 years. She was firm, resolute, and sturdy like cobblestone, while at the same time, soft, and malleable like the sand used to take hold of the stones and keep her path firm. Contrasts. Opposites. Paving her way. She was born, Patricia Anne Fletcher, and although born in Newcastle Upon Tyne, in England she was a South African woman. She was an only child, who embraced the world. Her working class parents were a contrast in themselves: her gentle natured father who survived Dunkirk, and her mother, a strong-willed and accomplished woman in her own right. Her sons, Michael and I, are a contrast, each with differing characteristics she admired and

Geoff Ryman's comprehensive and ongoing project, 100 Writers of African SFF , made it to Durban's shores in 2016. He interviewed myself and Blaize Kaye (Durban), and Unathi Magubeni (East London). Check out Part 11: http://strangehorizons.com/issue/100-african-writers-of-sff-part-eleven-south-africa/ My interview: http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/stephen-embleton/

In April 2018 we launched the cltrSHIFT (Culture Shift) podcast. With 12 episodes done, we've covered topics from Sangomas to Surfers, House Music to African Literature. The cltrShift mission: Delve into different cultures, mythos, traditional beliefs, histories, creative arts, identities and traditions of groups of people to shift perceptions and reveal our individuality as well as our collective humanity. AVAILABLE ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS SoundCloud iTunes Stitcher Google Play TuneIn ACast Anchor Pocket Casts Castbox.fm From the site: I started many of these chats out of my own interest and my own research. Me and my audio recorder. And I soon realized that is was information that was well worth sharing. So with a bit more effort I created CltrShift. Some interviews may simply be out of interest, while others form a part of my writing research. Having had a number of my short stories published, I’ve found m

The cover for AfroSF v3 was revealed this week. Due out in November 2018. A great list of writers to be amongst.

"Veiled" featured in the 2016 “Beneath This Skin” Edition of Aké Review (2016) (non-speculative fiction) The Aké Festival is held annually in Abeokuta, Nigeria. The 2016 theme's focus centered on issues around identity, race and individuality. "Veiled"  being my first non-speculative fiction published. VEILED by Stephen Embleton A gust of wind blasted Prunelle from the side as the bus came to a stop a few feet in front of her. Panicked, she reflexively grabbed at the soft cloth covering the lower half of her face. "All okay," she thought. She touched and tweaked its position as she took the few steps forward and into the warmth of the waiting vehicle. She tried to ignore the weary look from the driver and quickly scanned her bus pass, heading as far into the back of the bus as she could go. The seats ran parallel to the sides of the bus, but fear of eye contact forced heads up at the advertisements or down at the g

On 6 May 2018, the Enkare Review team conducted a Twitter interview with me on the subject of my speculative fiction short story ' Sub Migratio ' - published in their inaugural edition in 2017. #Enkarestorychat Because the Enkare Review site has been unavailable, you can  read ' Sub Migratio'  here . Enkare Review Link: Read it here