In July, author and professor Nnedi Okorafor revealed that her Afrofuturist novel Who Fears Death – which focuses on a young woman who goes on a post-apocalyptic quest in a future Africa landscape to find her mother's killer – would become a new HBO series with Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin attached as an executive producer.
The news came as a great surprise to fans and many have been on the edge of their seats anticipating more news about the series. According to Shadow And Act, Martin made it clear that Okorafor will have a substantial role in bringing the book to life and that he is only one of a handful of executive producers.
"I will be an executive producer on WHO FEARS DEATH but I will not be the executive producer, i.e. the showrunner. That's an important distinction. Should we move forward, there will be a number of executive producers, and probably some co-executive producers and supervising producers and producers as well. This is television," he wrote in a Livejournal post in July.
As months rolled on and more news announcing writers and producers to the project was revealed, Okorafor has been placed on the sidelines and Martin has moved to the forefront. In a tweet on Sept. 15, Okorafor let her frustrations be known garnering several thousand retweets and likes.
"Afrocentric"….at least say Afrofuturist, yeesh. Get with it. And *I* wrote the novel being adapted.
Mscheeeeeeeeeeew. https://t.co/AuIg6TIuwy
— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) September 15, 2017
After the tweet calling out the A.V. Club for the misstep went viral, the popular entertainment site fixed the error.
@Nnedi – they fixed it! https://t.co/DFVjvbjmff
— Crystal N. (@DigitalCrystal) September 16, 2017
But that is not the only time this has happened. Media outlets have often used Martin to attract attention to news about the project. And that is not the issue. The problem, as many claim on Twitter, is that Okorafor is being erased from her own book adaptation.
Most times her picture isn't even featured in the article.
— Nnedi Okorafor, PhD (@Nnedi) September 16, 2017
So let's be clear
This series will be adapted from @Nnedi Okorafor's book Who Fears Death
Not some rando idea from GRRM
Respect her. https://t.co/ri2ZpaHnxm
— The TZA (@TatianaKing) September 15, 2017
Y'all are just parodies of yourselves. You couldn't have Nnedi Okorafor's name? Maybe like… BOTH pictures side-by-side? https://t.co/cLzNmENdXw
— wikipedia brown (@eveewing) September 15, 2017
HBO and George R.R. Martin to Adapt Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death for Television | https://t.co/2TGYufk6Up
https://t.co/LsEuJEOG3B— NQP of Themyscira (@DJMK4Life) August 20, 2017
Although the press has been good, Okorafor isn't the one receiving the attention. She goes into great detail about this in a Facebook post stating that her book has been miscategorized, and Martin has come under attack for being attached.
With the added heat on the Confederate controversy, HBO has to get this right and get Okorafor in front of her project.
