Club Ded is an exhilarating psychedelic-noir, the second novel from Nikhil Singh, author of Taty Went West, which was shortlisted for Best African Novel at the inaugural Nommo Awards. Club Ded is shortlisted for Best Novel and Best Artwork at the BSFA Awards. Shortlisted for the NOMMO Awards - Best Novel. Brick Bryson, iconic African-American 90s action star, is fresh out of rehab and shooting the doomed sci-fi blockbuster CLUB DED with his old drinking buddy, bad boy, #metoo'd director, Croeser, in South Africa. But all is not as it seems. Behind the scenes, operatives of Oracle Inc., an elite, all-female information gathering organisation, have gone rogue. Utilising their vast criminal resources, they're pushing the interests of a street-level psychedelic drug-cult - spearheaded by the mysterious ex-Nollywood director Fortunato, and his underground 'reality- revolutionaries'. As the subtropical, fish-derived drug begins to exert an apocalyptic influence in secret, the fabric of time itself begins to unravel. Set in Cape Town, Club Ded expands the Afrofuturist genre while it is still being formed, focusing on the methodology of creation in the media world of the city. "Nikhil Singh is the compelling, razor sharp and hallucinogenic voice of nascent and imminent African futures. In Club Ded, he rides a wild and filmic dialectic between America and Africa, all handled with scabrous surety and emotional force. Nikhil is a writer to be experienced, not just read." Nick Wood, author of Azanian Bridges and Learning Monkey and Crocodile "Club Ded is a laugh out loud riot. And yet each staccato chapter retains a gravitas that builds and builds to provide a Pynchonesque future vision of South Africa and the larger African continent with its aging action movie star, neurotic film director, beautiful sirens, paparazzi, charismatic wanderers, talking chimps and alien creatures. Nikhil Singh has outdone himself with this new novel - his dialogue is as sharp as ever, his new world grim but intoxicating. Club Ded is so f...d up, so hilarious and so brilliant." Billy Kahora, Former Editor, Kwani? and author of The Cape Cod Bicycle War Content Themes of violence, sex and drug abuse.
Author
BIO Nikhil Singh is a South African artist, writer and musician. Former projects include the graphic novels: Salem Brownstone written by John Harris Dunning (longlisted for the Branford Boase Award, Walker Books 2009) as well as The Ziggurat (Bell-Roberts 2003) by The Constructus Corporation (now Die Antwoord). His/her/It's work has also been featured in various magazines including Dazed, i-D Online, Creative Review, as well as Pictures and Words: New Comic Art and Narrative Illustration (Laurence King, 2005) and Design Week UK. His/her/It's debut novel Taty Went West was published by Kwani? Trust in 2015, Jacaranda Books (UK) in 2017, and Rosarium (US) in 2018. The book was released with illustrations by the author, a self-produced soundtrack and was shortlisted for Best African Novel in the inaugural Nommo Awards. He/She/It was invited to submit a story to The Unquiet Dreamer, a prestigious Harlan Ellison tribute, from PS Publishing in 2019. The story The Re-Evolution of Cloud 9, was also longlisted for Best Story in the 2020 Nommo Awards. The novel Club Ded, published by Luna Press Publishing (UK) in June 2020 was shortlisted for Best Novel in the 2021 British Science Fiction Association Awards and the 2021 Nommo Awards. He/She/It has recently completed the James Currey workshop for writing and publishing at Oxford University and was invited to chair a panel at the Oxford Literary Festival 2022, discussing his/her/it's work. To date, the author has participated in the following festivals as either an a panelist, awards presenter, featured reader: African Futures (Nairobi 2015), Time of the Writer (SA 2015), African Utopia (Southbank Center UK 2015), Africa Writes (British Library UK / Royal African Society 2016), Worldcon 75/Hugo Awards (Hugo Awards presenter / profiled writer Helsinki 2017), South African Book Fair / Book week (SA 2017), Readercon (Boston 2018), New York Science Fiction Review (NY 2018). Cymera (Edinburgh Festival 2020), DisCon III (Washington 2021), Oxford Literary Festival (2022) SALEM BROWNSTONE quotes ANTHONY MINGHELLA: “Salem Brownstone is a graphic novel that is both original and compelling. There's a seamless relationship between the images and the text, and the characters linger in the mind. I look forward to the continuing adventures of Salem Brownstone!” HARMONY KORINE: Salem Brownstone kicked my ass and made me believe in the beautiful darkness of the world again.’ JEFFERSON HACK (editorial director of the Dazed magazine group, founding Dazed magazine with photographer Rankin ) : 'Salem Brownstone is a hypnotically beautiful gothic fantasy.” ALAN MOORE: "A wonderfully imaginative and stylish piece of work and a perfect example of the adventurous new directions that comic books should be taking in the future." CLUB DED quotes ‘Club Ded is a kaleidoscopic look at the processes of creation and art through the dual lenses of realism and Afrofuturism. The cultural clash between Bryson and Fortunanto microcosmically reflect the complexities of relations and exchanges between the US and South Africa. It feels as though author Nikhil Singh is on an academic discourse against generalisation and stereotype: comparisons in ideals of American commercialism and ‘African’ mysticism. Singh bolsters the narrative with a penetrating understanding of contemporary South Africa, and subtle, but astute, use of social commentary. He writes unapologetically about issues such as poverty, racism, substance abuse and classism. With incredible humanity, all characters are flawed. If not relatable, they are believable. Singh creates mystery in a steady release of plot. With no real clues to puzzle things together, the narrative is unclear for a large part of the book, yet Singh successfully retains the reader in actively focusing their attention on what proves to be key information. Club Ded is a self-aware novel. Singh makes a calculated contribution to Afrofuturism in quest
