Stephen Embleton

As a fan of Jorge Luis Borges (his writing and the man), I felt compelled to illustrate him in black and white 🖊️📚  Jorge Luis Borges – Stephen Embleton – 24 May 2023 I set out to do a pen and. ink drawing but soon realised a white on black technique would be more interesting. I used an old rolled ink background I did on paper in 2018, and in Photoshop, added the white illustrated brushwork. With limited physical resources on hand at the moment, digital is a great option for me. Knowing how real brushwork should look, means I can give a natural feel to the image. Jorge Luis Borges – Stephen Embleton – Detail #illustration  #inkillustration #borges #JorgeLuisBorges  Jorge Luis Borges – Stephen Embleton – 24 May 2023 (FULL) Prints available on Society6

  "The Good Nigerian" by David Dison (2023) It was a pleasure to be asked to design the UK edition cover for David Dison's successful "The Good Nigerian". Set in Joburg, I thought it fitting to contrast the colours and flowers of the Jacaranda trees, with the gritty cityscape, weapon and profile of a man uneasy with his surroundings. The textured title further emphasises the Nigerian (flag) connection. FULL COVER: "The Good Nigerian" by David Dison (2023)

I was able to attend the 2023 Nebula Conference (Anaheim, California) as a virtual guest and have a great panel session with fellow Sauúti Collective members Eugen Bacon, Xan van Rooyen, Jude Umeh and Wole Talabi.  SAUÚTI: AN AFRO-CENTRIC UNIVERSE Fri, May 12, 2023 UK 9PM-10PM (Pacific 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM)Panelists:  Eugen Bacon Stephen Embleton Xan van Rooyen Jude Umeh Wole Talabi (moderator) The Sauútiverse is an African collective initiative, drawing from the Swahili word ‘sauti’ that means ‘voice’ to create a five-planet system orbiting a binary star. A world rooted deeply in a variety of African mythology, language, and culture. Sauúti weaves in an intricate magic system based on sound, oral traditions and music. If you have access, watch the full panel chat here:  https://events.sfwa.org/events/sauuti-an-afro-centric-universe/

"Madness" by Esomnofu Ebelenna (2023) Taking a photograph by Susan Wilkinson, adding the floral silkscreen motif and superimposing the custom stamped typographic design, I wanted something soft (fabric) yet course in its texture (linen) and grey rather than warm. Unsettling. And taking this further with the misaligned text of the back cover. Full cover: "Madness" by Esomnofu Ebelenna (2023)

"Yamtarawala, the Warrior King" by Henry Akubuiro (2023) – watercolour/digital After researching the events and era of the play's events, I felt a simple yet dramatic illustration would be best. Using splashed and dripping paint as blood, I morphed those into flowers (also featured in the inner layout) and the elongated spears of the warriors of the time. Amongst the "chaos" I featured the imagined profile of the bearded warrior king. Full cover: "Yamtarawala, the Warrior King" by Henry Akubuiro (2023) Some of the reference images.

It was a proud day to celebrate the release of this wonderful, and enigmatic book: The Lake Goddess. Until now, only published in Nigeria, I wanted to celebrate the work of Flora Nwapa and publish this posthumous book to a wider audience. I had the privilege of not only editing the book (with my Editor's Introduction) but also designed the cover. Rather than depicting any perceived dark and mysterious theme, and the legendary figure of Ogbuide (the Lake Goddess herself), I wanted to reflect the vibrancy of the story's real-world lake region of Oguta as well as the people and their traditions. Paperback (Feb/March 2023) 20 March 2023: I spent the day with Ejine Nzeribe, showing her damp Oxford, talking about her mother Flora Nwapa, and Flora’s novel, The Lake Goddess , which we published in the UK this month 📖 and ending with some ugba (oil bean seed) from Ona Nwelue ❤️🌶️ Read my Editor's Introduction to the new edition below... Ugba (oil bean seeds) Ejine Nzeribe and Step...

Eugen Bacon's review of the James Currey Anthology features in Aurealis Magazine #157 (Australia) in February 2023. The Review in full here: Review by Eugen Bacon  This unique anthology of everything African comes in two parts: short stories and  creative essays. Editor Stephen Embleton, himself award-winning as a writer,  showcases the diversity of African fiction writing and the intensity of African critical  thinking. This book sings voices from the continent on matters of death, dirge,  superstition, patriarchy, belonging, and more. The pertinent miscellany opens with Mbaeze Nnedimma’s darkly twisted  ‘Ihekanwa’, the voice of a child on the power of fear and belief  a Rubin’s blossom—young and tender, the rarest plant with its properties of healing— belief. Offering the secret of  in a shoebox is N. A. Ntumy’s ‘Don’t Whis...

My latest short story,  “Soyinka's Memory ” , published in The Shallow Tales Review “MEMORY” #40 January 2023." On 17 August 2022 I reached out to Professor Wole Soyinka (through Onyeka Nwelue) regarding the early draft of a short story I had written which featured a fictional Wole Soyinka. Within a few hours I received a direct response! I am pleased to share that the short story is now published in The Shallow Tales Review, along with Professor Soyinka’s acknowledgment of the work, below the title. Please note: an acknowledgment is not an endorsement. I also included the rather poignant and apt sentence he wrote in his email to me within the final draft of the short story itself:  “My ‘memory’ is under strain.” The rest of the short story is FICTION – in a small part autobiographical, but for the most part it is fiction. It is magical realism. It expands on an original Jorge Luis Borges short story from 1938, “Shakespeare's Memory” . “Embleton begins his riveting st...