Tlotlo Tsamaase is a Motswana speculative fiction writer and poet whose writing has been nominated for or won numerous awards.
Her fiction has appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, Strange Horizons, ', Africa Risen, and more.
Tsamaase earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Botswana as well as an MFA in creative writing from Chapman University. She has said that "studying architecture brought [her] to science fiction."
Her first novella, The Silence of the Wilting Skin, was published in 2021 by Pink Narcissus Press and was nominated for a Lambda Award in the LGBTQ Speculative Fiction category. Her first novel, Womb City, was published by Erewhon Books in 2024 and was nominated for a Locus Award for Best First Novel. It was also a finalist for the 2025 Ignyte Award for Outstanding Novel. <sup>7</sup>
Her fiction has appeared in publications such as Clarkesworld Magazine, The Best of World Science Fiction Volume 1, Futuri uniti d'Africa, Terraform, Strange Horizons, ', Africa Risen, The Dark Magazine, and The Year's Best African Speculative Fiction.
She is currently represented by Naomi Davis of BookEnds Literary Agency.
She is Motswana.
|- ! scope="row" | 2011 | Unlettered Skies of the Sublime | Best Novel | Bessie Head Short Story Awards | | | |- ! scope="row" rowspan="2"|2017 | I Will Be Your Grave | Best Poem | Rhysling Award | | | |- | "Virtual Snapshots" | | Nommo Award | | Longlist | |- ! scope="row" rowspan="3"|2021 | rowspan="2" |The Silence of the Wilting Skin | LGBTQ Speculative Fiction | Lambda Award | | | |- | Best Novella | rowspan="3"| Nommo Award | | | |- | "Behind Our Irises" | Best Short Story | | Joint winner | |- ! scope="row" rowspan="1"|2022 | "Dreamports" | Best Short Story
| | | |- ! scope="row" rowspan="1"|2023 | "Peeling Time (Deluxe Edition)" | | rowspan="1"| Caine Prize | | Shortlist | |- ! scope="row" rowspan="2"|2025 | scope="row" rowspan="2"|Womb City | Best First Novel | rowspan="1"| Locus Award | | Top ten finalist | |- |Best Novel |Nommo Award | | |