Chiké Frankie Edozien is a Nigerian-American writer and journalist. He is currently the director of New York University,

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

. He directed the New York University Journalism Institute's Ghana based Reporting Africa program from 2008 to 2019. He is a journalist who honed his skills writing about government, health and cultural issues for a variety of publications. He is the author of the 2017 book ''Lives of Great Men'', a Lambda Literary Award winner. ''Lives'' was shortlisted for the

Randy Shilts Award The Randy Shilts Award is an annual literary award, presented by Publishing Triangle to honour works of non-fiction of relevance to the gay community. First presented in 1997, the award was named in memory of American journalist Randy Shilts. Winn ...

for Non-Fiction in 2018 by the Publishing Triangle. Edozien has spoken about the themes of freedom, perseverance, and courage expressed in ''Lives'' around the world from India to Australia to New Zealand to South Africa and Nigeria as well as Ghana and the United States. His work has been examined in universities around the world from Yale University to New York University to Manchester Metropolitan University as well as Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore, University of Delhi, and more. Originally published in the UK and US by

Rikki Beadle-Blair Richard Barrington "Rikki" Beadle-Blair MBE (born July 1961) is a British actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, singer, designer, choreographer, dancer and songwriter of British/West Indian origin. He is the artistic director of multi-me ...

and John R. Gordon's Team Angelica Press, in July 2018 it was brought out in South Africa by Jacana Books. ''Lives'' is available in West Africa and East Africa since 2018 on Ouida Books. ''Lives'' is an exploration of the lives of contemporary LGBTQ men and women on the African continent and in the diaspora. Edozien's "Shea Prince" was shortlisted for the 2018 Gerald Kraak Human Rights Award and his "Last Night in Asaba" was shortlisted again in 2019 for the Gerald Kraak and was part of the book ''As You Like It'' earning him a second Lambda award in 2019. His "Forgetting Lamido" was also anthologized in Safe House: ''Exploration in Creative Nonfiction''. In 2018 Edozien wrote the introduction for the New Internationalist Edition of ''Queer Africa: Selected Stories'' a collection of drawn from two ground breaking anthologies from around Africa. His work has appeared in '' The Times'' (UK), '' Vibe'', '' Time'', ''

Transition Magazine ''Transition Magazine'' was established in 1961 by Rajat Neogy as ''Transition Magazine: An International Review''. It was published from 1961 to 1976 in various countries on the African continent, and since 1991 in the United States. In recent y ...

'', ''

Out Traveler ''Out Traveler'' is a gay and lesbian travel magazine from the publishers of '' Out'' and '' The Advocate'', combining photography with coverage of LGBT travel topics. Published as a stand-alone title from 2003 to 2008, it was subsequently incorpo ...

'', Black AIDS Institute, ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

'', '' Quartz'', '' New York Times'', Jalada, '' Atlas Obscura'' and more. Edozien is a founding member of Afrolit Sans Frontieres Festival, a virtual literary festival founded by South African author and curator Zukiswa Wanner as a response to the curfews and lockdowns related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. He was awarded New York University's Martin Luther King, Jr Faculty Award in 2017 for excellence in teaching, community building, social justice advocacy and leadership. While living in New York, Edozien was an award-winning '' New York Post'' reporter for 15 years, and its City Hall reporter from 1999 to 2008 where he was the lead writer on legislative affairs. He covered crime, courts, labor issues, human services, public health and politics, reporting from around the country and abroad for the paper. Edozien's work on the shooting death of

Amadou Diallo In the early hours of February 4, 1999, an unarmed 23-year-old Guinean student named Amadou Diallo (born September 2, 1975) was fired upon with 41 rounds and shot a total of 19 times by four New York City Police Department plainclothes office ...

by four New York police officers was featured in episode three of Netflix's '' Trial by Media'' ("41 Shots"). He is one of the over 100 African writers to speak out in an unprecedented open letter against police brutality worldwide.

References

External links

*
''Lives of Great Men'': Review by Kanyinsola Olorunnisola
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edozien, Chike Frankie 21st-century Nigerian writers 21st-century American memoirists Nigerian journalists Nigerian memoirists American LGBT writers American LGBT journalists Nigerian LGBT writers LGBT memoirists Nigerian emigrants to the United States Living people New York Post people New York University faculty Lambda Literary Award winners 1970 births 21st-century American LGBT people