Luna Novella is finally here, and we are thrilled to announce that Dilman Dila has joined the Luna family with the novella, The Future God of Love.
On the 15th of April, we opened submissions to novellas, for the first time. There is strength in short fiction, as I was saying in a post a few days ago. Luna Press began with an anthology of short stories - Beyond Realities was one of the very first things we did. Novellas are just as gorgeous: they provide the focus of the short story, within the broad scope of the novel. Our new series will be available in digital format and also in the pocket-size print edition so that they can journey with you!
From this first open submission, six talented authors have emerged and have joined the Luna family, and you will meet them all this month. The first to be introduced is Dilman Dila.
Dilman Dila is a writer, filmmaker, all round storyteller, and author of a critically acclaimed collection of short stories, A Killing in the Sun. He has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize (2013) and for the Nommo Awards for Best Novella (2017), and longlisted for the BBC International Radio Playwriting Competition (2014), among many accolades. His short fiction has featured in several anthologies, including African Monsters, Myriad Lands, AfroSF v2, and the Apex Book of World SF 4. His digital art has been on exhibition in USA and in Uganda, and his films include the masterpiece What Happened in Room 13 (2007), and The Felistas Fable (2013), which was nominated for Best First Feature by a Director at AMAA (2014) and winner of four major awards at Uganda Film Festival (2014). You can watch some of his most popular short films on www.youtube.com/dilstories and you can find more on his life and works on his website dilmandila.com.
The Future God of Love is a romance fantasy, set in an African world where stories are essential for the survival of humanity. It tells of a struggling storyteller, who has to create a story every full moon for the prosperity of his town. When he falls in love with a strange woman, having known loneliness all his life, he ignores clues that she might not be human.
Dilman said about the novella:
"The Future God of Love, like most of my stories, came at a time when I was going through emotional turmoil. Last year I was having relationship trouble and was in a gloomy place, and then my ex's best friend told me she was looking for a gift to give her husband for father's day. She asked me to autograph one of my books, thinking it would make him deliriously happy. The irony of it struck me, how my works have the ability to make other people happy, and yet I might never enjoy that same happiness; sort of the fate of many artists. I love the world I set this story in, as it underlines the power the arts have over people, and yet the artists are often not held in the same esteem as their works."
Dilman Dila's The Future God of Love, will be released in 2021, as part of the Luna Novella series.