After sharing this photo on social media

We are delighted to share that Nnedi Okorafor’s Binti has just been named a Hugo award winner in the best novella category. The Hugo awards are given annually to highlight the best science fiction works of the previous year. Unlike Binti’s previous Nebula award, the Hugo awards are voted for by members of the World Science Fiction convention. Winners of previous Hugo awards include Ursula K. Le Guin and J.K Rowling.

Binti is a Harrypotter-esque space odyssey about a young girl faced with leaving her family and surviving the dangerous journey to her university in the galaxy. According to a reviewer’s description:

“Binti is utterly captivating… [and] shows that one girl can change the course of the galaxy.” ―Michaela Gray, Geek Syndicate

Amongst the diverse winners last night was Hao Jingfang, author of Folding Beijing, who became the second Chinese writer to win a Hugo Award.
Asked on NPR a couple of days ago about the push-back by some writer groups  against multi-cultural stories in the Hugo Awards, Okorafor responded:

“I think that inevitably science fiction and fantasy was going to become more diverse, and I think that certain people kind of react negatively to that because they’ve been used to being in a certain position for so long. And they feel that they’re being moved from the center…when really that is not what’s happening at all. Things are just becoming bigger and more exciting, and they’re included as well. So I think that it’s fear of the unknown. I think these are the last throes of that shift. It’s – these are growing pains.”- NPR

We say a big congratulations to Nnedi Okorafor for her great works!