Ukamaka Olisakwe

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Ukamaka Olisakwe
Born (1982-10-24) 24 October 1982 (age 41)
Kano State, Northern Nigeria
OccupationNovelist, short story writer, screen writer
Period2010–present

Ukamaka Evelyn Olisakwe (born 24 October 1982) is a Nigerian feminist author, short-story writer, and screenwriter. In 2014 she was chosen as one of 39 of Sub-Saharan Africa's most promising writers under the age of 40, showcased in the Africa39 project [1] and included in the anthology Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara (edited by Ellah Allfrey). [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Personal life and education

Olisakwe was born and raised in Kano State, northern Nigeria. [5] Her parents are from eastern Nigeria. She completed her secondary education in northern Nigeria and subsequently earned a degree in Computer Science from Abia State Polytechnic, in Aba, Nigeria. [6]

Writing career

Olisakwe's debut novel, Eyes of a Goddess, was published in 2012. [7] [8] [9]

She has written numerous short stories and articles, most of which have appeared in blogs and online journals, including Olisa.tv, Saraba , Sentinel Nigeria and Short Story Day Africa. [10] She has been featured in the BBC. [11] [12] Her essays have appeared in The New York Times and various magazines including the Nigerian Telegraph and African Hadithi. [13] She wrote the screenplay for The Calabash, [14] [15] a television series produced and directed by Obi Emelonye and premiered in January 2015 on Africa Magic Showcase. [16] Olisakwe administers the blog for the Writivism Mentorship Programme, a project of the Centre for African Cultural Excellence, and was a co-facilitator at the Lagos Workshop. [17] She was a guest and panel member at the 2014 Ake Arts and Books Festival [18] [19] and the Hay Festival. [20]

Olisakwe was selected as one of the 39 most promising writers under the age of 40 from Sub-Saharan Africa and the diaspora, in the Africa39 project [21] – a Hay Festival and Rainbow Book Club initiative in celebration of the UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 – and is included in the anthology Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara (edited by Ellah Allfrey). Olisakwe's contribution, "This Is How I Remember it", was described by one reviewer as "a clear-eyed account of a girl's romantic awakening in Nigeria" and a story "so good it leaves us wanting more", [22] while another reviewer described it as a "gripping story about adolescent romance, deception and yearning". [23]

In 2016, Olisakwe was a resident at the University of Iowa's International Writing Program. [6] In 2018, Olisakwe won the Vermont College of Fine Arts Emerging Writers Scholarship to pursue an MFA in Writing and Publishing. [24]

In July 2020, Olisakwe founded Isele Magazine . [25]

Lectures

Olisakwe was a guest at the 2015 Writivism Festival in Kampala, Uganda, where she taught a fiction master-class. [26] On 28 May 2015, she spoke on how "You Could Stop The Next Maternal Death Statistic" at TEDxGarki. [27]

Recognition

Bibliography

Novels

Short stories

Articles

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References

  1. ↑ Margaret Busby, "Africa39: How we chose the writers for Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014", The Guardian , 10 April 2014.
  2. ↑ Africa39 "list of artists", Hay Festival.
  3. ↑ "Africa39 list of promising writers revealed", The Bookseller , 8 April 2014.
  4. ↑ Africa39 Authors Biographies, hayfestival.com.
  5. ↑ Ukamaka Olisakwe (1 December 2014). "Growing Up Fearful in Nigeria". The New York Times.
  6. 1 2 Mikael Mulugeta (1 November 2016). "'I was able to be the main subject of my writing': Ukamaka Olisakwe on becoming a writer, the new generation of female Nigerian authors". Iowa Now. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "Hay Festival". www.hayfestival.com. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  8. ↑ Amazon (2012). Eyes of a Goddess. UK: Piraeus Books LLC. p. 304. ISBN   978-0985203818.
  9. ↑ Better World Books (2022). "Eyes of a Goddess". www.betterworldbooks.com. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  10. ↑ cacedirector (30 October 2014). "2015 Writivism Mentors". Writivism. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  11. ↑ Jalada (30 May 2016). ""Nkem's Nightmare" By Ukamaka Olisakwe". Jalada Africa. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  12. ↑ "Ukamaka Olisakwe". International Writing Program Collections. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  13. ↑ Allfrey, Ellah Wakatama, ed. (2014). Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara. Bloomsbury. p. 512. ISBN   978-1-62040-780-6.
  14. ↑ Akinseye, Isabella (14 January 2015). "Spotlight on Ukamaka Olisakwe". DStv . Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  15. ↑ Latestnigeriannews. "Ukamaka Olisakwe: Screen writer behind The Calabash". Latest Nigerian News. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  16. ↑ "Exciting January for Africa Magic Viewers!" Africa Magic, 14 January 2015.
  17. ↑ Richards, Oludare (7 January 2015). "Nigeria: Writivism to Engage Readers and Writers in 2015". The Guardian . Nigeria – via AllAfrica.
  18. ↑ "Soyinka, Obasanjo, Amaechi, others for Ake Festival". Nigerian Tribune . Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  19. ↑ "Ukamaka Olisakwe". Ake Arts & Book Festival. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  20. ↑ "Ukamaka Olisakwe". Hay Festival 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  21. ↑ Abodunrin, Akintayo (13 April 2014). "Africa39 Writers Unveiled at London Book Fair". Nigerian Tribune.
  22. ↑ Forbes, Malcolm (23 October 2014). "Continental drift: Africa39, an anthology of writing from south of the Sahara, is too good to miss". The National.
  23. ↑ Walia, Shelley (4 March 2015). "Creativity and dissidence". The Hindu.
  24. ↑ "Internationally acclaimed Nigerian author earns VCFA's 2018 Emerging Writer Scholarship". Vermont College of Fine Arts. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  25. ↑ Dahir, Abdi Latif (17 July 2021). "The New Magazines and Journals Shaping Africa's Literary Scene". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  26. ↑ "None".[ permanent dead link ]
  27. ↑ "You could stop the next maternal death statistic | Ukamaka Olisakwe | TEDxGarki". YouTube
  28. ↑ "A Novelist Entered Literary Curation, Still Honouring Her Feminist Roots". Open Country Mag. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  29. ↑ "See the Lovely Photos From Africa 39 Events at the Port Harcourt Book Festival". brittlepaper.com. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  30. ↑ "Africa39: how we chose the writers for Port Harcourt World Book Capital 2014". the Guardian. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  31. ↑ "A conversation with Ukamaka Olisakwe". The Shallow Tales Review. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  32. ↑ "The TIA 100 – Best Books, 2010-2014", This Is Africa, 24 December 2014.
  33. ↑ "Ukamaka Olisakwe: Breaking free". Bookanista. 15 September 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  34. ↑ "A Girl from Montana", The Enigma Woman, UNP - Nebraska, pp. 11–30, doi:10.2307/j.ctt1djmg4b.7, ISBN   978-0-8032-0692-2 , retrieved 30 May 2020
  35. ↑ "Continental drift: Africa39, an anthology of writing from south of the Sahara, is too good to miss". The National. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
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