Joy Keys chats with Ugandan Author Dilman Dila about A Killing In The Sun

Dilman Dila is a writer, filmmaker and a social activist who believes that stories are an important tool in creating a better world. Dilman was shortlisted for the prestigious Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2013, long listed for the Short Story Day Africa prize, 2013, and nominated for the 2008 Million Writers Awards for his short story, Homecoming. Dilman’s first works appeared in print in The Sunday Vision in 2001, and have since featured in several e-zines and book anthologies, including the African Roar 2013, Storymoja, and Gowanus Books. His first novella, a romance, Cranes Crest at Sunset, was released in 2013 during the Hay Festival in Nairobi. www.dilmandila.com

‘A Killing in the Sun’ is a collection of speculative fiction from Africa. It draws from the rich oral culture of the author’s childhood, to tell a wide variety of stories. Some of the stories are set in a futuristic Africa, where technology has transformed everyday life and a dark force rules. Others are set in the present day, with refugee aliens from outer space, ghosts haunting brides and grooms, evil scientists stalking villages, and greedy corporations creating apocalypses. There are murder mysteries, tales of reincarnation and of the walking dead, and alternative worlds whose themes any reader will identify with. This collection is deftly crafted, running along the thin boundary of speculative and literary genres.