Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. A person is only a person through other people. The core teaching of Hunhu/Ubuntu, the humanist philosophy of the Bantu tribes, is the value of community. I would not be here without the people who have breathed life into my dream. I am because we are, and since we are, therefore I am:
For sending me out-of-this-world anecdotes about African magic and mayhem and urging, “You should write a story about this!” my sister, Stacy Ndlovu, who fanned the flames for some of the stories in this collection to burst into life. My father, Stephen Ndlovu, whose stories put me through school. Mama, Glennis Ndlovu, and other African women that I write for.
For your friendship, your brilliance, for Afrofuturist dreaming into existence the impossible, my loves the Voodoonauts cofounders and homies Shingai Njeri Kagunda, LP Kindred, and Hugh “HD” Hunter.
For pandemic writing sessions where early forms of some of these stories were treated with care, the Summer Exhaustion Workshop Crew: Christina Sun, Stephanie Santos, and Marcella Haddad.
For our rant sessions, crit exchanges, and dreaming for better things for our homeland, Rutendo Charleen Chidzodzo.
For your friendship, support, and keeping me fed with jollof rice and zobo, Lola Ojutiku.
For affirming my stories in their early stages, Mukoma wa Ngugi, my undergraduate advisor at Cornell University; my beloved high school teachers Mrs Mangoye, Madame Nyathi, and Mrs B. Dube, for seeing my potential; Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Ernesto Quiñonez, Helena María Viramontes, and J. Robert Lennon, who all taught me valuable craft lessons.
At the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where many of these stories were written during workshops in the MFA program, my advisor Jeff Parker, for being the best mentor through a crisis and for the encouragement, support, and space to grow; Edie Meidav and Mona Awad, for your kindness and generosity; Ocean Vuong for reminding me to call my younger self into the room and to use intention as my anchor.
Polina Barskova for providing me with a cozy space in California to edit the collection and Buttons the Cat for being an awesome companion.
Institutions that have supported my writing with fellowships including Breadloaf Writers Conference, Tin House, and New York State Summer Writers Institute. The mentors and colleagues I met there such as P. Djéli Clark, Charlie Jane Anders, Annalee Newitz, Bill Campbell, Tobias Buckell, Dinaw Mengestu, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Claire Messud, and many more. Clarion West Writers Workshop for giving me space to teach a course about ngano, a story form from my home country that is the foundation for the stories in this collection.
At the University Press of Kentucky, series editor Lisa Williams for selecting my book, Patrick O’Dowd, Ann Marlowe, and the entire team for handling my first book with care.
And every sarungano and African writer who came before me.
Thank you.