Stephen Embleton

Illustration: Akintoba Kalejaye We (co-editors, Eugen Bacon, Cheryl Ntumy and myself) as excited to reveal the cover for the next volume of Sauúti stories and poems. We had the pleasure of editing and writing our own terror-filled stories for this volume due out worldwide in January 2026 from  Flame Tree Publishing , and  Simon & Schuster .  My short story  'Separation'  is among these awesomely terrifying stories and poems.  Editors – L-R: Eugen Bacon, Cheryl S. Ntumy, Stephen Embleton Releasing worldwide on 20 January 2026! You can find more information on  Flame Tree Publishing , and pre-orders via  Simon & Schuster ,  Amazon , and Bookshop . Flame Tree's "Beyond & Within" series

WATCH HERE Now available to watch : reading my Sauúti novella, ' Undulation ', from Seattle Worldcon 2025 on Wednesday 13 August. "Stephen reads from his 2024 Nommo Award-winning novella, “Undulation,” published in the Sauútiverse anthology, Mothersound . “Undulation” is a story of storytellers, of questioning the foundations of society, of mothers and their children, of finding your voice and finding the truth. “Undulation,” by Sauútiverse founding member Stephen Embleton, digs deep into Sauúti creation myths and epic poems, and the people who tell them—the ruevaagi, custodians of knowledge. The Sauúti shared world (or Sauútiverse), created by a collective of 10 African writers and creatives, is an Afrocentric secondary world with both humanoid and non-humanoid creatures living in a five-planet, binary star system."  

  We mourn the loss of one of our giants of literature, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. Thank you to Brittle Paper for bringing us all together for this. My tribute (below) to Ngũgĩ acknowledges not only his literary legacy, but his contribution to African language usage and recognition on the Continent and around the world. Beginning with a quote by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o on the importance of language for us: “I have become a language warrior. I want to join all those others in the world who are fighting for marginalised languages. No language is ever marginal to the community that created it. Languages are like musical instruments. You don’t say, let there be a few global instruments, or let there be only one type of voice all singers can sing.” – Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o A singular voice like no other from our continent, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o spoke and wrote in his own language, for us all. Language holds the power of a people, a community, an individual. We stand on our own, for our stories. I honour...

  The Nga'phandileh Whisperer Detail  – Stephen Embleton 2025 Getting the opportunity to illustrate anything in our Sauúti shared world is a pleasure and honour. For Eugen Bacon's "The Nga'phandileh Whisperer" , I had the chance to represent the magic of our science fantasy world, experiment with the visual representation of the sound-based magic system (sound wave patterns) and the Afrocentric elements we all write about in our stories. I got to visualise an ominous moonlit scene alive with texture, colour and movement.  African fabrics, beadwork and patterns are rich in inspiration, key elements I drew from to create a tactile illustration. From the central character's dress detail and jewellery, to the rough texture and subtle pattern of the paper background permeating all elements, for me, make it something you want to pick up and hold. Final Cover – Stars & Sabers –  Stephen Embleton 2025 It starts with a sketch, an idea, in rough. From the publisher...

I always enjoy pure typography. And for the cover of Jon Keevy's novel "The Unwoven Warrior", Mirari Press asked me to design a title that was bold and unique. It always seems simple when designers have thousands of good fonts (and many not so good) to choose from. But it's no easy feat, requiring many many tests, tweaks and customisations before you land on what you are happy with as a typographer, but more importantly, what the client and author perceive as best representing what lies beneath the cover – the story! Added to this is having it gel with another talented artist's illustration. In this case,  Bongane Mahlangu's epic vista. As usual, a great brief from Mirari Press and Jon Keevy. I tried a number of samples, customised and we went back and forth. Just when we thought we had something, we went back to the drawing board for something bolder. I took the simple, condensed lettering approach. I emphasised the sharper angles by extending them further –...

My latest short story, The Legend of the Echo Well , was published this week in the 10th Anniversary Edition of Omenana . I'm really excited to have a story in here, in good company... and a Sauúti story no less!  A magical story about the coming of age, responsibility and self-expression. Illustration – Stephen Embleton 2023 In the Issue: The Legend of the Echo Well | Stephen Embleton How the End Begins | Gabrielle Emem Harry Prévoyance | tariro Ndoro Alpha’s Gambit | Mazi Nwonwu The Night Market | Chinelo Onwualu Yoyin of the Captivating Form | Art Aliyu The Locket | Nerine Dorman If They Can Learn | Wole Talabi Read the FULL issue online.

I've loved birds since I was a kid, and this cover was an absolute pleasure to indulge in. Mirari Press had a long deadline, which gave me the time (and creative freedom) to experiment and add the detail I wanted to, giving this piece the TLC it so deserved. Buy Nerine Dorman's  "The Company of Birds"  here (coming soon). As always, Mirari Press gave an excellent brief, and with much needed background to the main character of Maga Liese ten Haven (and the variety of key bird species) from Nerine, the creative direction was clear in my mind: use a pencil crayon/chalk on paper (digital) technique with metal foiling for the Moon and Title script. This piece really took me back to my illustrating training in the early 90s, when most of our live figure drawings were using coloured pencils or chalk on coloured (not white) paper. The paper texture is vital to capture, as well as the nuances of the chalk smudges and fine line work. Digital is all well and good, but for me it...