Victor Forna
@vf12.bsky.social
Pinned
Victor Forna
@vf12.bsky.social
· Oct 22
A Tapestry of Dreams - Apex Magazine
The healers in the city told me they’ve looked through my body with the eyes of their electronic gods, they’ve searched for the name of my pain under skin and muscle, blood and bone, yet they’ve found...
apex-magazine.com
Seeing a spike in followers. Hello!! I'm Victor Forna, a Sierra Leonean writer with stories leaning towards the weird, surreal, and experimental. You can read my most recent works on Apex Magazine (apex-magazine.com/short-fictio...) and Seize The Press (www.seizethepress.com/2024/05/08/w...).
Reposted by Victor Forna
PRESS RELEASE
Announcing the Afterlives 2024 Table of Contents!!
curated by @shereereneethomas.bsky.social
"This Afterlives collection has some very powerful, gifted voices that explore liminal spaces, the veil between this world and the possible next."
thread/
psychopomp.com/announcing-t...
Announcing the Afterlives 2024 Table of Contents!!
curated by @shereereneethomas.bsky.social
"This Afterlives collection has some very powerful, gifted voices that explore liminal spaces, the veil between this world and the possible next."
thread/
psychopomp.com/announcing-t...
Announcing the Afterlives 2024 Table of Contents - PSYCHOPOMP.COM
You've been waiting for it, and now it is here, delivered hot and fresh to your browser, a table of contents for Afterlives 2024: The Year's Best Death
psychopomp.com
July 22, 2025 at 4:29 PM
PRESS RELEASE
Announcing the Afterlives 2024 Table of Contents!!
curated by @shereereneethomas.bsky.social
"This Afterlives collection has some very powerful, gifted voices that explore liminal spaces, the veil between this world and the possible next."
thread/
psychopomp.com/announcing-t...
Announcing the Afterlives 2024 Table of Contents!!
curated by @shereereneethomas.bsky.social
"This Afterlives collection has some very powerful, gifted voices that explore liminal spaces, the veil between this world and the possible next."
thread/
psychopomp.com/announcing-t...
Reposted by Victor Forna
V. The Heart’s Persistent Song
“Leak” by @mariahossain.bsky.social
“A Tapestry of Dreams” by @vf12.bsky.social
“The Eleventh Three-Quarters Hour” by @lesliewhat.bsky.social
“What It Means to Drift” by Rajeev Prasad
“Leak” by @mariahossain.bsky.social
“A Tapestry of Dreams” by @vf12.bsky.social
“The Eleventh Three-Quarters Hour” by @lesliewhat.bsky.social
“What It Means to Drift” by Rajeev Prasad
July 22, 2025 at 4:29 PM
V. The Heart’s Persistent Song
“Leak” by @mariahossain.bsky.social
“A Tapestry of Dreams” by @vf12.bsky.social
“The Eleventh Three-Quarters Hour” by @lesliewhat.bsky.social
“What It Means to Drift” by Rajeev Prasad
“Leak” by @mariahossain.bsky.social
“A Tapestry of Dreams” by @vf12.bsky.social
“The Eleventh Three-Quarters Hour” by @lesliewhat.bsky.social
“What It Means to Drift” by Rajeev Prasad
rambles
1
open.substack.com
June 28, 2025 at 7:10 PM
When the night was full of terrors
June 19, 2025 at 3:55 PM
When the night was full of terrors
Reposted by Victor Forna
For our first quarterly issue of the year, we explore the fleeting beauty of life’s impermanence.
Featuring Victor Forna, Solomon Peabo, Doreen Masika, Kabubu Mutua, Lucy Zhang, Celeste Colarič-Gonzales, and more.
Read our Ephemeral Moments issue:
iselemagazine.com/ephemeral-mo...
Featuring Victor Forna, Solomon Peabo, Doreen Masika, Kabubu Mutua, Lucy Zhang, Celeste Colarič-Gonzales, and more.
Read our Ephemeral Moments issue:
iselemagazine.com/ephemeral-mo...
April 30, 2025 at 3:54 PM
For our first quarterly issue of the year, we explore the fleeting beauty of life’s impermanence.
Featuring Victor Forna, Solomon Peabo, Doreen Masika, Kabubu Mutua, Lucy Zhang, Celeste Colarič-Gonzales, and more.
Read our Ephemeral Moments issue:
iselemagazine.com/ephemeral-mo...
Featuring Victor Forna, Solomon Peabo, Doreen Masika, Kabubu Mutua, Lucy Zhang, Celeste Colarič-Gonzales, and more.
Read our Ephemeral Moments issue:
iselemagazine.com/ephemeral-mo...
Reposted by Victor Forna
What was once dormant is being reborn. Coming out of its earthly slumber to rise once again.
As the world awakens around you, take a listen to some of TtT's best horror for spring.
As the world awakens around you, take a listen to some of TtT's best horror for spring.
March 20, 2025 at 4:10 PM
What was once dormant is being reborn. Coming out of its earthly slumber to rise once again.
As the world awakens around you, take a listen to some of TtT's best horror for spring.
As the world awakens around you, take a listen to some of TtT's best horror for spring.
Reposted by Victor Forna
bullets & blossoms—an experiment inspired by a real-life incident. by making the familiar strange, i hope i made the strange familiar.
thank you for giving this explosion a chance, @iselemagazine.bsky.social @msolisakwe.bsky.social
link: iselemagazine.com/2025/04/30/b...
thank you for giving this explosion a chance, @iselemagazine.bsky.social @msolisakwe.bsky.social
link: iselemagazine.com/2025/04/30/b...
bullets & blossoms | Victor Forna
and the two men, face to face, dancers, spin, spin, spin, guns in their hands like shɛgburɛ: soldier + madman, in the middle of a street, on a cardboard stage: they are not silent, but there are no…
iselemagazine.com
April 30, 2025 at 9:21 PM
bullets & blossoms—an experiment inspired by a real-life incident. by making the familiar strange, i hope i made the strange familiar.
thank you for giving this explosion a chance, @iselemagazine.bsky.social @msolisakwe.bsky.social
link: iselemagazine.com/2025/04/30/b...
thank you for giving this explosion a chance, @iselemagazine.bsky.social @msolisakwe.bsky.social
link: iselemagazine.com/2025/04/30/b...
bullets & blossoms—an experiment inspired by a real-life incident. by making the familiar strange, i hope i made the strange familiar.
thank you for giving this explosion a chance, @iselemagazine.bsky.social @msolisakwe.bsky.social
link: iselemagazine.com/2025/04/30/b...
thank you for giving this explosion a chance, @iselemagazine.bsky.social @msolisakwe.bsky.social
link: iselemagazine.com/2025/04/30/b...
bullets & blossoms | Victor Forna
and the two men, face to face, dancers, spin, spin, spin, guns in their hands like shɛgburɛ: soldier + madman, in the middle of a street, on a cardboard stage: they are not silent, but there are no…
iselemagazine.com
April 30, 2025 at 9:21 PM
bullets & blossoms—an experiment inspired by a real-life incident. by making the familiar strange, i hope i made the strange familiar.
thank you for giving this explosion a chance, @iselemagazine.bsky.social @msolisakwe.bsky.social
link: iselemagazine.com/2025/04/30/b...
thank you for giving this explosion a chance, @iselemagazine.bsky.social @msolisakwe.bsky.social
link: iselemagazine.com/2025/04/30/b...
Reposted by Victor Forna
There will be two more fiction submission windows in 2025:
Novelettes (300 story cap):
June 4th
Indigenous Authors (500 story cap):
November 3rd
More information at the links in our bio!
Writers may only send one story across all three 2025 submission windows.
Novelettes (300 story cap):
June 4th
Indigenous Authors (500 story cap):
November 3rd
More information at the links in our bio!
Writers may only send one story across all three 2025 submission windows.
April 21, 2025 at 10:35 AM
There will be two more fiction submission windows in 2025:
Novelettes (300 story cap):
June 4th
Indigenous Authors (500 story cap):
November 3rd
More information at the links in our bio!
Writers may only send one story across all three 2025 submission windows.
Novelettes (300 story cap):
June 4th
Indigenous Authors (500 story cap):
November 3rd
More information at the links in our bio!
Writers may only send one story across all three 2025 submission windows.
Reposted by Victor Forna
In order to grant his dying son's wish, a father illegally smuggles them out of the dome they live in at the end of the world.
Heartwrenching flash fic sci-fi by @vf12.bsky.social #africanlit
www.orions-belt.net/archives/dre...
Heartwrenching flash fic sci-fi by @vf12.bsky.social #africanlit
www.orions-belt.net/archives/dre...
Dream, Wish, Kaleidoscope — Orion's Belt
The obsessions of the father seep into the son.
www.orions-belt.net
April 19, 2025 at 4:34 PM
In order to grant his dying son's wish, a father illegally smuggles them out of the dome they live in at the end of the world.
Heartwrenching flash fic sci-fi by @vf12.bsky.social #africanlit
www.orions-belt.net/archives/dre...
Heartwrenching flash fic sci-fi by @vf12.bsky.social #africanlit
www.orions-belt.net/archives/dre...
Reposted by Victor Forna
Our protagonist, a child, has noticed 3 small raffia creatures following his mother around and delighting in her slow decline, eating away at her.
Raw encounter with death and dying by @vf12.bsky.social in @nightmare-magazine.com #africanlit 🪐📚💙
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/like...
Raw encounter with death and dying by @vf12.bsky.social in @nightmare-magazine.com #africanlit 🪐📚💙
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/like...
like blood on the mouths of death - Nightmare Magazine
I first saw them one evening in May. I couldn’t tell what they were: small, like kids, like me, but they rustled, raffia fronds for skin. My eyes fizzing with dreams, I found Mama cradled on the sofa,...
www.nightmare-magazine.com
April 17, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Our protagonist, a child, has noticed 3 small raffia creatures following his mother around and delighting in her slow decline, eating away at her.
Raw encounter with death and dying by @vf12.bsky.social in @nightmare-magazine.com #africanlit 🪐📚💙
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/like...
Raw encounter with death and dying by @vf12.bsky.social in @nightmare-magazine.com #africanlit 🪐📚💙
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/like...
Reposted by Victor Forna
Our narrator is gravely ill with an unknown disease. She contemplates her life. Is the pain of living worth it? Or should she join her ancestors in Roratha the Spirit World?
Heartbreaking story by @vf12.bsky.social in @apexmag.bsky.social #africansff 🪐📚💙
www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-...
Heartbreaking story by @vf12.bsky.social in @apexmag.bsky.social #africansff 🪐📚💙
www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-...
April 2, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Our narrator is gravely ill with an unknown disease. She contemplates her life. Is the pain of living worth it? Or should she join her ancestors in Roratha the Spirit World?
Heartbreaking story by @vf12.bsky.social in @apexmag.bsky.social #africansff 🪐📚💙
www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-...
Heartbreaking story by @vf12.bsky.social in @apexmag.bsky.social #africansff 🪐📚💙
www.apexbookcompany.com/a/blog/apex-...
Reposted by Victor Forna
"like blood on the mouths of death" — Victor Forna
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/like...
•dread — horror — bleak
•accept — desperate — despair
•loss — loss — loss
•nibble — bite — swallow
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/like...
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/like...
•dread — horror — bleak
•accept — desperate — despair
•loss — loss — loss
•nibble — bite — swallow
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/like...
like blood on the mouths of death - Nightmare Magazine
I first saw them one evening in May. I couldn’t tell what they were: small, like kids, like me, but they rustled, raffia fronds for skin. My eyes fizzing with dreams, I found Mama cradled on the sofa,...
www.nightmare-magazine.com
February 24, 2025 at 10:18 PM
"like blood on the mouths of death" — Victor Forna
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/like...
•dread — horror — bleak
•accept — desperate — despair
•loss — loss — loss
•nibble — bite — swallow
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/like...
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/like...
•dread — horror — bleak
•accept — desperate — despair
•loss — loss — loss
•nibble — bite — swallow
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/like...
Reposted by Victor Forna
Our upcoming Issue V, edited by @somtoihezue.bsky.social & @dontcallmeliv.bsky.social, promises 16 original stories from all over Africa and the diaspora. It blends seasoned writers with emerging voices, creating a dynamic collection that mirrors the evolving landscape of #AfricanSFF.
December 6, 2024 at 4:57 PM
Our upcoming Issue V, edited by @somtoihezue.bsky.social & @dontcallmeliv.bsky.social, promises 16 original stories from all over Africa and the diaspora. It blends seasoned writers with emerging voices, creating a dynamic collection that mirrors the evolving landscape of #AfricanSFF.
Reposted by Victor Forna
Even gods can't control a human heart's desire.
Imarimuthɔŋ was promised to a Kərfi by her desperate mother when she was an ailing baby. But she reneges.
Soooo I'm sobbing in the middle of the night. The yearning is superb 🤌🏾 Kudos @vf12.bsky.social #africansff 💙📚🪐
lolwe.org/in-this-gard...
Imarimuthɔŋ was promised to a Kərfi by her desperate mother when she was an ailing baby. But she reneges.
Soooo I'm sobbing in the middle of the night. The yearning is superb 🤌🏾 Kudos @vf12.bsky.social #africansff 💙📚🪐
lolwe.org/in-this-gard...
In This Garden of Our Memories - Victor Forna | Lolwe
A short story by Victor Forna
lolwe.org
March 1, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Even gods can't control a human heart's desire.
Imarimuthɔŋ was promised to a Kərfi by her desperate mother when she was an ailing baby. But she reneges.
Soooo I'm sobbing in the middle of the night. The yearning is superb 🤌🏾 Kudos @vf12.bsky.social #africansff 💙📚🪐
lolwe.org/in-this-gard...
Imarimuthɔŋ was promised to a Kərfi by her desperate mother when she was an ailing baby. But she reneges.
Soooo I'm sobbing in the middle of the night. The yearning is superb 🤌🏾 Kudos @vf12.bsky.social #africansff 💙📚🪐
lolwe.org/in-this-gard...
glad to see this story still getting love. thank you for reading it!
Even gods can't control a human heart's desire.
Imarimuthɔŋ was promised to a Kərfi by her desperate mother when she was an ailing baby. But she reneges.
Soooo I'm sobbing in the middle of the night. The yearning is superb 🤌🏾 Kudos @vf12.bsky.social #africansff 💙📚🪐
lolwe.org/in-this-gard...
Imarimuthɔŋ was promised to a Kərfi by her desperate mother when she was an ailing baby. But she reneges.
Soooo I'm sobbing in the middle of the night. The yearning is superb 🤌🏾 Kudos @vf12.bsky.social #africansff 💙📚🪐
lolwe.org/in-this-gard...
In This Garden of Our Memories - Victor Forna | Lolwe
A short story by Victor Forna
lolwe.org
March 1, 2025 at 10:00 AM
glad to see this story still getting love. thank you for reading it!
Reposted by Victor Forna
Notes on 33 short stories tanaudel.wordpress.com/2025/02/27/f...
by:
FE Choe @gabbyharry.bsky.social @kaychronister.bsky.social Wells Tower @delilahsdawson.bsky.social Etgar Keret, @domsdickey.bsky.social John Morrissey @authorizedmusings.bsky.social @vf12.bsky.social @ecatherine.com LM Guay
3/3
by:
FE Choe @gabbyharry.bsky.social @kaychronister.bsky.social Wells Tower @delilahsdawson.bsky.social Etgar Keret, @domsdickey.bsky.social John Morrissey @authorizedmusings.bsky.social @vf12.bsky.social @ecatherine.com LM Guay
3/3
February 27, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Notes on 33 short stories tanaudel.wordpress.com/2025/02/27/f...
by:
FE Choe @gabbyharry.bsky.social @kaychronister.bsky.social Wells Tower @delilahsdawson.bsky.social Etgar Keret, @domsdickey.bsky.social John Morrissey @authorizedmusings.bsky.social @vf12.bsky.social @ecatherine.com LM Guay
3/3
by:
FE Choe @gabbyharry.bsky.social @kaychronister.bsky.social Wells Tower @delilahsdawson.bsky.social Etgar Keret, @domsdickey.bsky.social John Morrissey @authorizedmusings.bsky.social @vf12.bsky.social @ecatherine.com LM Guay
3/3
Reposted by Victor Forna
Calling poets,prose writers & essayists to submit to the @strangehorizons.bsky.social AfroSurrealist Special Issue!Send us your worlds that slip between the mundane & the uncanny,the ghostly & the futuristic. Me & @shingai-be-like.bsky.social are co-editing
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
Afrosurrealism Special Issue: Submissions Call
The editors for the AfroSurrealism Special invite you to submit fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.
strangehorizons.com
February 11, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Calling poets,prose writers & essayists to submit to the @strangehorizons.bsky.social AfroSurrealist Special Issue!Send us your worlds that slip between the mundane & the uncanny,the ghostly & the futuristic. Me & @shingai-be-like.bsky.social are co-editing
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
Reposted by Victor Forna
just found out the Bram Stoker Preliminary Ballot is out, and my story, like blood on the mouths of death, is on it for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction. deeply honoured!!!
and congratulations to everyone who appears.
bramstokerawards.horror.org/front-page/t...
@nightmare-magazine.com
and congratulations to everyone who appears.
bramstokerawards.horror.org/front-page/t...
@nightmare-magazine.com
The 2024 Bram Stoker Awards® Preliminary Ballot Announced – The Bram Stoker Awards
bramstokerawards.horror.org
January 22, 2025 at 10:14 PM
just found out the Bram Stoker Preliminary Ballot is out, and my story, like blood on the mouths of death, is on it for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction. deeply honoured!!!
and congratulations to everyone who appears.
bramstokerawards.horror.org/front-page/t...
@nightmare-magazine.com
and congratulations to everyone who appears.
bramstokerawards.horror.org/front-page/t...
@nightmare-magazine.com
Reposted by Victor Forna
2024 Awards Eligibility Post
Hi!
If you're reading for any of the SFFH awards, please consider my short stories. I was lucky enough to have had four offerings out this year. You can find them in the links below. I would also be grateful for recommendations.
💫
Hi!
If you're reading for any of the SFFH awards, please consider my short stories. I was lucky enough to have had four offerings out this year. You can find them in the links below. I would also be grateful for recommendations.
💫
November 11, 2024 at 8:00 PM
2024 Awards Eligibility Post
Hi!
If you're reading for any of the SFFH awards, please consider my short stories. I was lucky enough to have had four offerings out this year. You can find them in the links below. I would also be grateful for recommendations.
💫
Hi!
If you're reading for any of the SFFH awards, please consider my short stories. I was lucky enough to have had four offerings out this year. You can find them in the links below. I would also be grateful for recommendations.
💫
Reposted by Victor Forna
"like blood on the mouths of death" appears here! THRILLED! huge thanks to the recommending group for including my story among so many wonderful works from 2024.
💫💫💫
@nightmare-magazine.com
💫💫💫
@nightmare-magazine.com
February 1, 2025 at 8:07 PM
"like blood on the mouths of death" appears here! THRILLED! huge thanks to the recommending group for including my story among so many wonderful works from 2024.
💫💫💫
@nightmare-magazine.com
💫💫💫
@nightmare-magazine.com
The Six Deaths of The Saint is a perfect story
February 10, 2025 at 8:33 PM
The Six Deaths of The Saint is a perfect story
Reposted by Victor Forna
Once more pleading for more shattered world Dark Sun-esque fantasy in the submissions. Unsettling cadence, rich prose. Genuinely don't care about plot, just make the vibes fucked up.
Submissions - Seize The Press
Submissions Guidelines Seize The Press Magazine is an anticapitalist publication looking to publish dark speculative fiction. Bleak sci-fi, dark fantasy, horror and all kinds of weird, messy, genre-de...
www.seizethepress.com
February 8, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Once more pleading for more shattered world Dark Sun-esque fantasy in the submissions. Unsettling cadence, rich prose. Genuinely don't care about plot, just make the vibes fucked up.