The Nommo Awards are literary awards presented by The African Speculative Fiction Society. The awards recognize works of speculative fiction by Africans, defined as "science fiction, fantasy, stories of magic and traditional belief, alternative histories, horror and strange stuff that might not fit in anywhere else."
20-519: The Nommo Awards have four categories: Best Novel, Novella, Short Story, and Graphic Novel. They are named after the Nommo , ancestral spirits from Dogon cosmology who take a variety of forms, including appearing on land as fish, walking on their tails. The African Speculative Fiction Society (ASFS) promotes science fiction and fantasy by Africans. Its members include writers, editors, artists and publishers. Established August 15, 2016 with 58 charter members,
40-547: A belief that the Nommos were inhabitants of a world circling the star Sirius (see the main article on the Dogon for a discussion of their astronomical knowledge ). The Nommos descended from the sky in a vessel accompanied by fire and thunder. After arriving, the Nommos created a reservoir of water and subsequently dived into the water. The Dogon legends state that the Nommos required a watery environment in which to live. According to
60-589: A fish-like lower torso and tail. Nommos are also referred to as "Masters of the Water", "the Monitors", and "the Teachers". Nommo can be a proper name of an individual or can refer to the group of spirits as a whole. For purposes of this article, "Nommo" refers to a specific individual and "Nommos" is used to reference the group of beings. Dogon religion and creation mythology [ fr ] says that Nommo
80-486: A high improbability of containing a planet capable of sustaining life (particularly life as dependent on water as the Nommos were reported to be). Daughter and colleague of Marcel Griaule, Geneviève Calame-Griaule, defended the project, dismissing Van Beek's criticism as misguided speculation rooted in an apparent ignorance of esoteric tradition. Van Beek continues to maintain that Griaule was wrong and cites other anthropologists who also reject his work. The assertion that
100-631: Is also known as The Ilube Nommo Award for Best Speculative Fiction Novel by an African . It is named for and sponsored by Tom Ilube . Nommo The Nommo or Nummo are primordial ancestral spirits in Dogon religion and cosmogony (sometimes referred to as demi deities) venerated by the Dogon people of Mali . The word Nommos is derived from a Dogon word meaning "to make one drink." Nommos are usually described as amphibious, hermaphroditic , fish-like creatures. Folk art depictions of Nommos show creatures with humanoid upper torsos, legs/feet, and
120-422: Is an image of the Nommo in Dogon cosmology, twins who on land can take the form of fish walking on their tails. "The Nommo are mythological ancestral spirits (sometimes referred to as deities) worshipped by the Dogon people of Mali. The word Nommos is derived from a Dogon word meaning "to make one drink." The Nommos are usually described as amphibious, hermaphroditic, fish-like creatures. Folk art depictions of
140-525: Is central to a wide range of fertility and marriage rituals, which are closely related to Dogon origin myths. The hogon may conduct rituals in the Sanctuaire de Binou , a special building the door of which is blocked with rocks. According to legend, the first hogon, Lebe, was descended from a nommo . He was eaten by another nommo, and their spirits merged; the nommo vomited out a new Lebe (part human and part spiritual), plus copious liquid which shaped
160-568: Is seen by the Dogon as the source for the proliferation of Binu shrines throughout the Dogons' traditional territory; wherever a body part fell, a shrine was erected. In the latter part of the 1940s, French anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen (who had been working with the Dogon since 1931) wrote that they were the recipients of additional, secret mythologies, concerning the Nommo. The Dogon reportedly related to Griaule and Dieterlen
180-680: The ASFS and its Nommo Awards is a body for African science fiction/fantasy professionals. Members nominate and vote on the Nommo Awards for African Speculative Fiction. “The ASFS will provide a place where writers, readers, and scholars can come together to find information, connect with each other, and act as watchdogs for their collective interests.” Chinelo Onwualu, co-founder of Omenana The African Speculative Fiction Society 58 original charter members of 2016. The Nommo Awards logo and ASFS logos were designed in 2016 by Stephen Embleton. The logo
200-473: The African continent or by writers from the African diaspora. Jazz composer and bassist Jymie Merritt dedicated a composition to the Nommo, circa 1965, entitled " Nommo ." Hogon A hogon is a spiritual leader in a Dogon village who plays an important role in Dogon religion . A hogon is a religious figure as well as a temporal authority; the hogon may be hereditary or may be chosen from among
220-661: The Dogon knew of another star in the Sirius system, Emme Ya, or "larger than Sirius B but lighter and dim in magnitude" continues to be discussed. In 1995, gravitational studies indicated the possible existence of a red dwarf star circling around Sirius but further observations have failed to confirm this. Space journalist and sceptic James Oberg collected claims that have appeared concerning Dogon mythology in his 1982 book and concedes that such assumptions of recent acquisition are "entirely circumstantial" and have no foundation in documented evidence and concludes that it seems likely that
SECTION 10
#1732798589815240-597: The Nommos show creatures with humanoid upper torsos, legs/feet, and a fish-like lower torso and tail. The Nommos are also referred to as “Masters of the Water”, “the Monitors”, and "the Teachers”. Nommo can be a proper name of an individual, or can refer to the group of spirits as a whole. For purposes of this article “Nommo” refers to a specific individual and “Nommos” is used to reference the group of beings." The Novel Award
260-526: The Sirius mystery will remain exactly what its title implies: a mystery. Earlier, other critics such as the astronomer Peter Pesch and his collaborator Roland Pesch and Ian Ridpath had attributed the supposed "advanced" astronomical knowledge of the Dogon to a mixture of over-interpretation by commentators and cultural contamination. The belief structure surrounding Nommo, as well as Robert Temple's conclusion from his pseudoarchaeology book The Sirius Mystery , were used by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes as
280-620: The background for the role-playing game in The California Voodoo Game , the third volume in their Dream Park series. Novelist Tom Robbins discusses Nommo and the Sirius mysteries in his novel Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas . Nommo and the Dogon are also widely mentioned in Philip K. Dick 's novel V.A.L.I.S. . The Nommo are also mentioned in the second book of Ian Douglas's Legacy Trilogy ( Battlespace ) where
300-508: The first reported association of the Dogon with the knowledge of Sirius as a binary star was in the 1940s, giving the Dogon ample opportunity to gain cosmological knowledge about Sirius and the Solar System from more scientifically advanced, terrestrial societies whom they had come in contact with. It has also been pointed out that binary star systems like Sirius are theorized to have a very narrow or non-existent Habitable zone , and thus
320-623: The marines encounter the Nommo in the Sirius star system. There are also references to the Nommo in Grant Morrison 's comic book series, The Invisibles . A major character in the webcomic series Forming by Jesse Moynihan is inspired by (and named) Nommo. Since 2017, the African Speculative Fiction Society has given out a prize called the Nommo Award to science fiction and fantasy writing from
340-588: The myth related to Griaule and Dieterlen: "The Nommo divided his body among men to feed them; that is why it is also said that as the universe "had drunk of his body," the Nommo also made men drink. He gave all his life principles to human beings." The Nommo are also thought to be the origin of the first Hogon . Walter van Beek, an anthropologist studying the Dogon, found no evidence that they had any historical advanced knowledge of Sirius. Van Beek postulated that Griaule engaged in such leading and forceful questioning of his Dogon sources that new myths were created in
360-451: The process by confabulation , writing that: ...though they do speak about sigu tolo [what Griaule claimed was Sirius] they disagree completely with each other as to which star is meant; for some it is an invisible star that should rise to announce the sigu [festival], for another it is Venus that, through a different position, appears as sigu tolo. All agree, however, that they learned about the star from Griaule. Carl Sagan has noted that
380-443: The village elders—custom varies from place to place. The hogon is always a man. After being chosen, a hogon must pass through several months without washing or shaving. After initiation, he wears a red cap, and a pearl bracelet. Hogon live alone and should be celibate, but a village girl may act as a maid. Nobody should touch the hogon. The hogon has a key role in village rituals and in ensuring fertility and germination. The hogon
400-407: Was the first living creature created by the sky god Amma. Shortly after his creation, Nommo underwent a transformation and multiplied into four pairs of twins. One of the twins rebelled against the universal order created by Amma. To restore order to his creation, Amma sacrificed another of the Nommo progeny, whose body was dismembered and scattered throughout the universe. This dispersal of body parts
#814185