Nnedi Okorafor: Sci-fi stories that imagine a future Africa
Nnedi Okorafor: Historias de ciencia ficción que imaginan una África futura
Nnedi Okorafor weaves African cultures into the evocative settings and memorable characters of her science fiction work for kids and adults. Full bio
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from a traditional family
de una familia tradicional
university in the galaxy,
en la mejor universidad de la galaxia,
from my "Binti" novella trilogy:
de la trilogía de mi novela "Binti":
and said a silent prayer.
y dije una oración silenciosa.
to do if it didn't work.
a hacer si no funcionaba.
or, more likely, a grain of sand,
más probablemente, un grano de arena,
tenía que reiniciarlo una y otra vez
I had to restart it over and over
please not now," I thought.
no ahora", pensé.
and I held my breath.
en la arena y contuve la respiración.
como una piedra de oración,
slowly rose from the sand.
luego se izó lentamente de la arena.
the baggage-lifting force.
la fuerza elevadora de equipaje.
to the shuttle on time.
a la lanzadera a tiempo.
with my index finger and knelt down,
con mi dedo índice y me arrodillé
red clay into it.
en la arcilla roja de olor dulce.
along the dark desert road.
por el oscuro camino del desierto.
I would make it there on time.
llegaría a tiempo.
I paused and shut my eyes.
was pressing on my shoulders.
estaba presionando mis hombros.
part of myself for the first time
más tradicional de mí por primera vez
and they had no clue.
de la noche, y ellos no tenían ni idea.
excepto mi hermana menor y mi hermano,
except for my younger sister and brother,
I'd do such a thing in a million years.
que haría tal cosa en un millón de años.
what I'd done and where I was going,
de lo que había hecho y hacia dónde iba,
would growl to each other
mis padres se gruñirían el uno al otro
to set foot in their home again.
a poner un pie en su casa.
who lived down the road
que vivían en el camino
the entire bloodline.
a toda la línea de sangre.
to the transporter,
suavemente al transportador,
de cada tobillo tintineaban ruidosamente,
around each ankle jingled noisily,
when I didn't touch it.
funcionó mejor cuando no lo toqué.
sweat forming on my brow.
se concentraba en mi frente.
sitting atop the force field a shove.
que estaban sobre el campo de fuerza.
and I breathed another sigh of relief.
y suspiré aliviada.
of the Himba ethnic group.
del grupo étnico Himba.
into a university on another planet,
en una universidad en otro planeta,
of her people in her veins,
de su gente en sus venas,
ways, even the land on her very skin,
incluso con la tierra en su propia piel,
she becomes not other, but more.
ella no se vuelve otra, sino más.
and then becoming more
y luego volverse más
del afrofuturismo,
a different type of science fiction.
un tipo diferente de ciencia ficción.
classic science fiction and Afrofuturism
clásica y el afrofuturismo
intelligent creatures on earth.
más inteligentes del planeta.
from a different evolutionary line,
a partir de una línea evolutiva diferente,
of various forms of science fiction.
de las diversas formas de ciencia ficción.
societies, social issues,
asuntos sociales,
y que hay dentro de nuestro planeta.
what's within our planet.
and most effective forms
una de las mejores y más efectivas formas
has the same ancestral bloodline,
tiene el mismo linaje ancestral,
science fiction,
Robert Heinlein, etc.
Robert Heinlein, etc.
wrote science fiction?
estadounidense escribiera ciencia ficción?
read much science fiction.
colonization and seeing aliens as others.
la colonización
who looked like me in those narratives.
que se pareciera a mí en esas narraciones.
to seek education from extraterrestrials.
educación de los extraterrestres.
a line of classic space opera narratives,
narrativas de obras clásicas espaciales,
a la sangre que corre profundamente
leave the planet on her own terms.
abandonar el planeta por su cuenta.
had different ancestors,
antepasados diferentes,
Nigerian immigrant parents
of classic science fiction.
de la ciencia ficción clásica.
that led me to write science fiction.
me llevó a escribir ciencia ficción.
to Nigeria in the late '90s.
familiares a Nigeria a fines de los '90.
with my family since I was very young.
desde que era muy pequeña.
even wrote took place in Nigeria.
que escribí sucedía en Nigeria.
realismo mágico y fantasía
cosmologies and spiritualities.
tradicionales del oeste de África.
the role of technology in Nigeria:
de la tecnología en Nigeria:
en el pueblo,
to my cousin's desktop computer
a la computadora de escritorio de mi primo
was always going on and off.
siempre se iba y venía.
that most Nigerians saw as normal.
de los nigerianos veían como normales.
gave birth to stories.
dio a luz a historias.
llegan a Lagos, Nigeria?
from my novel, "Lagoon."
de mi novela, "Lagoon".
to the great mess happening in Lagos,
al gran desastre que sucedía en Lagos,
had portable, chargeable,
en Lagos tenía portátiles, cargables,
communicating, connected devices,
pían, gorjean, comunican,
and posted online in some way,
publicado en línea de alguna manera,
is connected like a spider's web.
está conectado como una telaraña.
para entretenerse.
dominated every international news source,
dominaban todas las fuentes
webs de intercambio de videos,
circle, pyramid and trapezoid.
círculos, pirámides y trapecios.
past, present and future.
presente, el presente y el futuro.
and ancestors who dwelled in Lagos.
y antepasados que moraron en Lagos.
of the people of Lagos.
las mentes de la gente de Lagos.
the supreme spider artist,
el artista supremo de la araña,
beneath the city of Lagos,
debajo de la ciudad de Lagos,
of extraterrestrials coming to Lagos.
los extraterrestres que llegan a Lagos.
who was the size of a house
con el tamaño de una casa
the past, present and future
el pasado, presente y futuro
and be a part of the story.
africana corre profundamente
and sociopolitical changes it'll inspire.
y cambios sociopolíticos que inspirarán.
science fiction can be a will to power.
cosecha propia es una voluntad de poder.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nnedi Okorafor - Science fiction writerNnedi Okorafor weaves African cultures into the evocative settings and memorable characters of her science fiction work for kids and adults.
Why you should listen
Nnedi Okorafor is an award-winning novelist of African-based science fiction, fantasy and magical realism. Born in the US to Nigerian immigrant parents, Okorafor is known for weaving African cultures into creative settings and memorable characters. Her books include Lagoon (a British Science Fiction Association Award finalist for best novel), Who Fears Death (a World Fantasy Award winner for best novel), Kabu Kabu (a Publisher's Weekly best book for Fall 2013), Akata Witch (an Amazon.com best book of the year), Zahrah the Windseeker (winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for African Literature) and The Shadow Speaker (a CBS Parallax Award winner).
Her 2016 novel The Book of Phoenix is an Arthur C. Clarke Award finalist, while the first book in the Binti Trilogy won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella. Her children’s book Chicken in the Kitchen won an Africana Book Award. The final installment of the Binti Trilogy, titled The Night Masquerade, will be released in September 2017, and the sequel to Akata Witch (titled Akata Warrior) is was published in October 2017. Meanwhile, her book Who Fears Death has been optioned by HBO, with Game of Thrones' George R.R. Martin as executive producer.
Okorafor is a full professor at the University at Buffalo, New York (SUNY).
Nnedi Okorafor | Speaker | TED.com