Will This Be A Problem?

@willthisbeaproblem.bsky.social

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A Kenyan-based SFFH literary journal showcasing the very best in African fantastika. Everything WTBAP?: https://linktr.ee/WTBAP

Carousel slide highlighting Kenyan speculative fiction from Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine: Issue 1. Design is set on a textured blue and white wavy background with the heading “The Magazine: Issue 1” displayed on a green banner. The magazine cover depicts a towering humanoid figure surrounded by smaller people. Featured stories are: The Karkar of Envaitenet by Anyango Midamba, A Guide to Okanowach by Florence Onyango, Where the Young Go by Peace Mundia, and Motion Sickness by Franscine Machinda. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, Kenyan flag motifs in opposite corners and the website link is placed at the bottom.
Carousel slide highlighting Kenyan speculative fiction from Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine: Issue 2. Design is set on a textured blue and white wavy background with the heading “The Magazine: Issue 2” displayed on a green banner. The magazine cover shows a seated figure beneath a surreal cluster of arms and hands. The featured story is Babies Don't Grow in People by Peter Nena. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, Kenyan flag motifs in opposite corners and the website link is placed at the bottom.
Carousel slide highlighting Kenyan speculative fiction from Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue I. Design is set on a textured blue and white wavy background with the heading “The Anthology: Issue II” displayed on a green banner. Below is the anthology cover, showing a figure in a flowing red and blue outfit standing in a dramatic landscape. Listed stories are: Among the Shadows, A War of Harmony, Stolen Parts, and Second Chances (A Stolen Parts Story) by Kevin Rigathi; The Tunnel and The Soulless by Peter Nena; Hubishi Na Akuzikaye by Ondi Madete; Bad Bodies by K.G. Nderitu; and Lovebird by Olivia Kidula. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, Kenyan flag motifs in opposite corners and the website link is placed at the bottom.
Carousel slide highlighting Kenyan speculative fiction from Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue II. Design is set on a textured blue and white wavy background with the heading “The Anthology: Issue II” displayed on a green banner. Below is the anthology cover, showing a woman seated beside a black cat against a dark green backdrop. Listed stories are: The True Story of Banga Tishi by Michelle Angwenyi, Between the Red Sea & the Gulf of Aden by K.G. Nderitu, Pinocchia by Kena Muigai, and I Shot the Cheating Bastard by Peter Nena. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, Kenyan flag motifs in opposite corners and the website link is placed at the bottom.
Carousel slide highlighting Kenyan speculative fiction from Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue III. Design is set on a textured blue and white wavy background with the heading “The Anthology: Issue III” displayed on a green banner. Below is the cover of the anthology, showing a young figure in goggles standing beside a large wolf-like creature in a fantastical landscape. Under the cover are three featured stories by Kenyan writers: What Happens When It Rains by Michelle Angwenyi, The Real Deal by James Kariuki, and The World is Mine by Kris Kabiru. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, Kenyan flag motifs in opposite corners and the website link is placed at the bottom.
Carousel slide highlighting Kenyan speculative fiction from Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V. Design is set on a textured blue and white wavy background with the heading “The Anthology: Issue V” displayed on a green banner. Below is the cover of the anthology, showing a figure in a red suit beneath a large spectral face in a cloudy sky. Under the cover is a list of featured stories by Kenyan writers: A Song of Ruin by Alex Tamei, The Clans by Tony Osiwa, The Language We Have Learned To Carry In Our Skin by Shingai Kagunda, If Memory Serves by Kevin Rigathi, and Why Donkeys Have 44 Teeth by Peter Nena. The WTBAP website and a carousel navigation arrow appear at the bottom. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, Kenyan flag motifs in opposite corners and the website link is placed at the bottom.
Promotional graphic for a WTBAP spotlight series. The design features a dark blue background with the WTBAP logo at the top and Kenyan flag motifs in opposite corners. In the centre, a large textured circular graphic in shades of grey and blue contains the text: “Spotlight: WTBAP's Guide to Kenyan Speculative Fiction.” A teal abstract star-like shape appears on the left side of the circle. At the bottom is the website address and a double-arrow icon indicating a carousel post. The overall design highlights a spotlight theme.
Purple textured background with the heading “How Voting Works” on an olive green banner. The main text explains how the voting system works and how the public should vote. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, and a website link is placed at the bottom.
Purple textured background with the heading “About the Awards” on an olive green banner. The main text explains what the Ignyte Awards are about and their purpose in the speculative fiction community. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, and a website link is placed at the bottom.
A promotional graphic set on a purple background with subtle cosmic illustration and olive green accents. At the centre, inside a circular frame, bold text reads “Spotlight: WTBAP? Shortlisted For The Community Award at the 2026 Ignyte Awards Finalist. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, and a website link is placed at the bottom. The overall design highlights a spotlight theme.
Teal textured background with the heading “About Qwani” on a red banner. The main text explains what the platform is about, how it started, and what it has become over the course of 3 years. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, and a website link is placed at the bottom
Teal textured background with the heading “Illustration as Literature” on a red banner. The main text explains what the panel is about, the date, time and venue for the session. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, and a website link is placed at the bottom.
Teal textured background with the heading “New Themes in Modern Kenyan Writing” on a red banner. The main text explains what the panel is about, the date, time and venue for the session. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, and a website link is placed at the bottom.
A promotional graphic set in a dark teal background with wavy line patterns. At the centre, inside a circular frame, bold text reads “Spotlight: Olivia Kidula at the Inaugural Qwani LitFest. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, and a website link is placed at the bottom. The overall design highlights a spotlight theme.
Illustrated story cover. A nude, dark-skinned humanoid figure sits curled in a fetal position, suspended by cables plugged into their head and body against a glowing orange-red background traced with circuit-like lines. Title reads: Commensalism, or The Labyrinth’s Vessels by Albert Nkereuwem. Text notes: A finalist for the Ignyte Short Story Award 2026.
A promotional graphic set in a purple background with wavy line patterns. At the centre, inside a circular frame, bold text reads “Spotlight: 2025 LOCUS Recommended Reading List”. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, and a website link is placed at the bottom. The overall design highlights a spotlight theme.
A promotional graphic for Will This Be A Problem? outlining the publication’s 2025 award eligibility set on a dark blue cosmic pattern with greeb accents. The heading reads: Will This Be a Problem? 2025 Award Eligibility – For Your Consideration Sections list eligible categories: - Anthology: Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V, edited by Somto Ihezuo and Olivia Kidula (January 2025) - Magazine: Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine: Issue 2, edited by Olivia Kidula (July 2025) - Artist: Peter Marco, with artwork for Issue V & Issue 2 - Novelette: Why Donkeys Have 44 Teeth by Peter Nena (Issue V), and Babies Don’t Grow in People by Peter Nena (Issue 2) Additional eligibility notes read that Olivia Kidula is eligible in Best Editor categories and Will This Be A Problem? is eligible in Best Semiprozine categories. The WTBAP and Shilitza Publishing Group logos appear at the bottom right, and WTBAP’s website link sits near the bottom centre.
A promotional graphic set on a beige background with subtle cosmic illustrations and teal accents titled “Rutendo Chidzodzo | Award Eligibility – For Your Consideration” The image lists one short story published in 2025: I’m Home, Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology | Issue V, January 2025 Main text reads: A brief, second-person narrative of on grief and transformation. The story follows a girl stolen by water spirits and the mother who grieves silently and prays for her return. What unfolds is less a rescue tale than an aching reflection on how encounters with forces beyond the familiar can alter a person, returning homewith edges that no longer fit the old container. The play with second person perspective doubles down on the aspect that this is you in the story. It puts you in the driver’s seat and forces your hands and legs to move along with the characters.
A promotional graphic set on a pinkish background with teal accents and subtle cosmic illustrations titled “Azure Arther | 2025 Award Eligibility – For Your Consideration" The image lists one short fiction work: Do The Bop Bop, Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine, July 2025. Main text reads: While analog horror is usually associated with found footage on grainy VHS tapes, Arther skillfully manages to evoke the same feeling on the page with a short that may cause parents to take a second look at just what their children are watching, especially when it seems like the world as we know it is ending. Bop Bop!
Award eligibility graphic for Shingai Kagunda’s 2025 short story published by Will This Be a Problem? The Anthology. The design is set on a dark blue background with subtle cosmic illustration and teal and orange accents. The title reads: Khaya Maseko | 2025 Award Eligibility – For Your Consideration The graphic lists Acceptance, published in Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V, January 2025. Main text reads: In this haunting story, a young girl learns a disturbing secret about those in power and ponders this truth as she grows up to be a journalist and becomes exhausted by reporting on the never-ending violence and exploitation in our society. Kagunda likens the vices of corruption, violence and war to parasitic creatures living under the skins of Kenyan politicians, transferred over to them by the white colonizers. A story that reminds readers about the importance of holding onto our stories, and of oral tradition.
Award eligibility graphic for Andrew Dakalira’s 2025 short story published by Will This Be a Problem? The Anthology. Set on a purple and teal cosmic design with planets and stars. The title reads: Andrew Dakalira | 2025 Award Eligibility – For Your Consideration The graphic lists Ash Baby, published in Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V, January 2025. Main text reads: Offers a clever reimagining of the Biblical story of Job as a never-ending chain of cruelty and endless victims. A story that feels almost cinematic in its scale: a cosmic battle cracking open reality like a windowpane hit by too much light. Dakalira’s reverence for African spiritual traditions sits beneath the chaos, reminding you that the supernatural in our stories is rarely a departure from belief but an extension of it.
A promotional graphic set in a dark blue background with wavy line patterns. At the centre, inside a circular frame, bold text reads “Spotlight: African Works Longlisted for the 2026 BSFA Awards”. The WTBAP logo appears at the top, and a website link is placed at the bottom. The overall design highlights a spotlight theme.
Award eligibility graphic for Lucille Sambo’s 2025 short fiction published by Will This Be a Problem? The Anthology. The design is set on a purple and teal cosmic design with subtle planets and stars. The image lists two published short stories: The Herd, published by Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine: Issue 2, July 2025. Main text reads: A thrilling horror short which makes for a magnificent entry in the canon of African horror. Goats have been a long-time staple of the horror genre, but Sambo has found ways to make them feel wholly new and deeply disquieting. Scales and Arabesques, published in Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V, January 2025. Main text reads: The distance between that far-away future where they talk of the present day as the ancient past and now is contained only within the bounds of our imagination. A story where characters begin to perceive the unseen realities that coexist within and beyond the ordinary, when a Zimbabwean ballerina in Paris has a surreal encounter with an alien.
Orange textured background titled “Dinosaurs Once Lived Here (2025)” on an old parchment-style banner at the top. At the centre is the cover of Issue V of WTBAP? The Anthology. The main text reads: Dinosaurs Once Lived Here is published in Issue 2 of Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology, edited by Somto Ihezue & Olivia Kidula. It’s about sentient wildfires, stolen suns and other world endings. As a scribe records, Anansi’s cousin tells a story about the destruction of the earth. The recollection unfolds in seven parts, from the death of Lagos to a flight to the stars. The story suggests that what survives catastrophe is not purity or righteousness but the myths we have carried all along. The story was recognised by Reactor as Must Read Short Speculative Fiction and spotlighted in Afrocritik’s 50 Remarkable African Short Stories of 2025. The WTBAP logo appears at the top and a website link placed at the bottom.
Orange textured background titled “Drinking from Graveyard Wells (2023)” on an old parchment-style banner at the top. At the centre is the book cover. The main text reads: Drinking from Graveyard Wells is Ndlovu’s debut short story collection, published in 2023 by The University Press of Kentucky. The genre-bending collection blurs the lines between social horror, Afrosurrealism and fantasy to tell the story of vengeful spirits, southern African mythological creatures, and Black women taking on the patriarchy and capitalism. Her deep and encompassing love for her home drives every story, regardless of genre or tone. The acclaimed collection won the Philip Freund Prize and was shortlisted for the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize, the Shirley Jackson Award and the British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Collection, solidifying her voice as a prominent Zimbabwean sarungano. The WTBAP logo appears at the top and a website link placed at the bottom.
Orange textured background titled “Bad Apples (2026)” on an old parchment-style banner at the top. At the centre is the image cover of story. The main reads: Bad Apples is Ndlovu's latest work in Seventh Wave, edited by K-Ming Chang and Hairol Ma. It’s a vampire story about a Zimbabwean mother who buys a coffin one day while running errands and decides to abandon her children to become a vampire. What does it mean to be a “good woman”? Is a “good woman” one who denies her hunger? The WTBAP logo appears at the top and a website link placed at the bottom.
A promotional graphic for Will This Be A Problem’s Author Spotlight. The design features a circular photo of Zimbabwean writer Yvette Lisa Ndlovu set against a dark orange patterned background with wavy line patterns. Below the photo, her name is displayed in teal lettering. The WTBAP logo appears at the top and the website link placed at the bottom.
Award eligibility graphic for Victor Forna’s 2025 short stories published by Will This Be a Problem? The Anthology. The design is set on a dark teal background with subtle cosmic illustration and orange accents. The title reads: Victor Forna | 2025 Award Eligibility – For Your Consideration The graphic lists the following: Bullets & Blossoms, Isele Magazine Quarterly / Ephemeral Moments / Issue 13, April 2025 Main text reads: An experiment inspired by a real-life incident. The issue explores the fleeting beauty of life’s impermanence. Mr. Original Swag, published in Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V, January 2025 Main text reads: Follows a flamboyant otherworldly being who will dance you out of the world. He offers an escape from the mundane, but at a steep price. The gods neither care about nor hate us but simply toy with us for their amusement. Through a TV show held somewhere in between space and time, an unfortunate contestant laments the side effects of cutting deals with these immortal beings that defy human understanding.
Purple textured background titled “Non-Remembrance” on an old parchment-style banner at the top. At the centre is the cover of Issue V of Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology. The main text reads: Non-Remembrance is published in Issue 2 of Will This Be A Problem? The Magazine, edited by Olivia Kidula. The story begins with a confession and a mystery, and Plangdi masterfully leads us to the revelation of both in a tender exploration of memory and chronic pain, and how relationships buckle when faced with the inevitability of change. The WTBAP logo appears at the top and a website link placed at the bottom.
Purple textured background titled “Not All Your Bones Are Yours” on an old parchment-style banner at the top. At the centre is the cover of Issue V of Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology. The main text reads: Not All Your Bones Are Yours is an Afrofuturist folk horror short story published in FIYAH Literary Magazine Issue #30 (2024). Driven by a desperate need to reunite with their lost love, a heartbroken human breaks taboo in a ghoulish attempt to become a mami wata. The story features mermaids, stolen bones and grief so strong it erodes your humanity. The story was also reprinted in Afterlives 2024: The Year’s Best Death Fiction and included in Brave New Weird: The Best New Weird Horror 2025 (Volume 3), published by Tenebrous Press. The WTBAP logo appears at the top and a website link placed at the bottom.
Purple textured background titled “How to Rob A Bullion Van” on an old parchment-style banner at the top. At the centre is the cover of the Afterlives: The Year’s Best Death Fiction 2024 anthology. The main reads: How to Rob A Bullion Van is published in Issue XIX of Baffling Magazine. The story unfolds as a letter between a man stuck in prison and the person he hopes can get him out of his predicament. On one level, the story is a how-to guide to robbing a van, so long as you know a little bit of magic. More than that, though, it’s a revelation of what went wrong for the narrator, how he was betrayed, and how this letter works into his plans for the future. Gives just enough for readers to piece together a lovely and defiant picture of a man determined to escape the stifling cage of poverty through wiles, grit and magic. The WTBAP logo appears at the top and a website link placed at the bottom.
A promotional graphic for Will This Be A Problem’s Author Spotlight. The design features a circular photo of Nigerian writer Plangdi Neple set against a purple patterned background with wavy line patterns. Below the photo, his name is displayed in teal lettering. The WTBAP logo appears at the top and the website link placed at the bottom.
Award eligibility graphic for Khaya Maseko’s 2025 short story published by Will This Be a Problem? The Anthology. The design is set on a dark teal background with subtle cosmic illustration and green accents. The title reads: Khaya Maseko | 2025 Award Eligibility – For Your Consideration The graphic lists Acceptance, published in Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V, January 2025. Main text reads: A lyrical, time-distortion tale about an artificially created freedom fighter trapped between dimensions. This high punk sci-fi examines the idea of revolution and violent resistance as the only solution to increasingly oppressive systems that target vulnerable populations. It has stylistically brilliant future-building, complete with cool tech and anti-capitalistic rebellion.  Follow along as “Acceptance” destroys time itself, removing the present from the past, the many versions of reality colliding, co-existing, co-forming simultaneously.
Award eligibility graphic for Matseliso Motsoane’s 2025 short story published by Will This Be a Problem? The Anthology. The design is set on a purple background with subtle cosmic illustration and olive green accents. The title reads: Matseliso Motsoane | Award Eligibility – For Your Consideration The graphic lists Baby Potion, published in Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V, January 2025. Main text reads: Circumstances force a woman to reexamine the seemingly commonplace details of her life, uncovering truths that force her to reconcile with a reality she was never meant to understand. Lebo, desperate to conceive, moves through a world where whispers travel fastest through the hiss of hairdryers and the rhythm of braids being tightened. Motsoane turns the beauty salon into a kind of informal intelligence agency, a place where truth, suspicion, and female intuition collide. Is it her husband? Her mother-in-law? A rival woman meddling with biology or magic? The story carries the intrigue of a domestic thriller but lands somewhere more surprising, more playful, and more thoughtful than the setup promises.
Award eligibility graphic for Alex Tamei’s 2025 short story published by Will This Be a Problem? The Anthology. The design is set on a dark teal cosmic design with planets and stars. The title reads: Alex Tamei | 2025 Award Eligibility – For Your Consideration The graphic lists A Song of Ruin, published in Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V, January 2025. Main text reads: Nairobi is now Ole Nyrobi as it once was before the sun fell. This story of post-apocalyptic Nairobi contains a society that has gone back to its traditional ways after anarchy destroyed our current reality. And the fight for survival becomes personal as a young man must brave the ruins of a fallen city in search for answers, and a cure for his sister’s mysterious illness. As his understanding of the world deepens, he begins to uncover something more beneath the surface. Follow along as he ventures into the dangerous ruins of old Nairobi, risking everything for answers.