Nnedimma Nkemdili "Nnedi" Okorafor (formerly Okorafor-Mbachu; born April 8, 1974) is a Nigerian-American writer of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

for both children and adults. She is best known for her ''Binti Series'' and her novels ''

Who Fears Death ''Who Fears Death'' is a science fantasy novel by Nigerian-American writer Nnedi Okorafor, published in 2010 by DAW Books, DAW, an imprint of Penguin Books. It was awarded the 2011 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, as well as the 2010 Carl Bran ...

'', '' Zahrah the Windseeker'', ''

Akata Witch ''Akata Witch'' (retitled ''What Sunny Saw in the Flames'' in Nigeria and the UK) is a 2011 fantasy novel written by Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor. It was nominated for the Andre Norton Award and it is the first novel in the ''Nsibidi ...

'', ''

Akata Warrior ''Akata Warrior'' (retitled ''Sunny and the Mystery of Osisi'' in Nigeria and the UK) is a 2017 young adult fantasy novel by Nigerian American writer Nnedi Okorafor. It is a sequel to '' Akata Witch'' and the second book in The ''Nsibidi Scripts ...

'', ''

Lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

'' and ''

Remote Control In electronics, a remote control (also known as a remote or clicker) is an electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operate devices such a ...

.'' She has also written for

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

and film. Her writing is

Africanfuturism Africanfuturism is a cultural aesthetic and philosophy of science that centers on the fusion of Culture of Africa, African culture, history, mythology, point of view, with technology based in Africa and not limiting to the diaspora. It was coined ...

and Africanjujuism, which is heavily influenced by her dual Nigerian and American heritage. She is the recipient of multiple awards, including the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

, Nebula Award, Eisner Award and

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

. She is considered to be among the third generation of Nigerian writers.

Background and personal life

Nnedimma Nkemdili Okorafor was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, in 1974 to

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

Nigerian parents who travelled to America in 1969 to attend school but purportedly could not return to

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

due to the

Nigerian Civil War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence ...

. Okorafor is the third child in a family of four children and grew up in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, and would often travel to Nigeria to spend her holidays with her extended family. Her first name is

for "mother is good". During her years attending

Homewood-Flossmoor High School Homewood-Flossmoor High School (H-F) is a comprehensive public high school in Flossmoor, Illinois. The district encompasses nearly 11.5 square miles drawing students from Homewood, Flossmoor, Chicago Heights, Glenwood, Hazel Crest, and Olympia ...

in Flossmoor, Illinois, Okorafor was a nationally known tennis and track star and excelled in math and the sciences. Due to her interest in insects, she desired to be an entomologist. She was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of 13, a condition that worsened as she grew older. At age 19, she underwent

spinal fusion Spinal fusion, also called spondylodesis or spondylosyndesis, is a neurosurgical or orthopedic surgical technique that joins two or more vertebrae. This procedure can be performed at any level in the spine (cervical, thoracic, or lumbar) and pre ...

surgery to straighten and fuse her spine; a rare complication led to Okorafor becoming paralyzed from the waist down. Okorafor turned to writing small stories in the margins of a science-fiction book that she had. It was the first time she had ever written anything creatively. That summer, with intense physical therapy, Okorafor regained her ability to walk with a cane, but she was unable to continue her athletic career. At the suggestion of a close friend, she took a creative writing class that spring semester and was writing her first novel by the semester's end. She completed her college education at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, before obtaining a master's degree in journalism from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

and a master's degree and PhD in English from the

University of Illinois, Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois sy ...

. She is a 2001 graduate of the

Clarion Writers Workshop Clarion is a six-week workshop for aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers. Originally an outgrowth of Damon Knight's and Kate Wilhelm's Milford Writers' Conference, held at their home in Milford, Pennsylvania, United States, it was founded ...

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

. She currently lives in Arizona with her family.

Work

Short stories

Okorafor received a 2001 Hurston-Wright literary award for her story "Amphibious Green". Okorafor's short stories have been published in anthologies and magazines, including '' Dark Matter: Reading The Bones'', '' Enkare Review'', ''

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, and ...

'', ''

Moondance ''Moondance'' is the third studio album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. It was released on 27 January 1970 by Warner Bros. Records. After the commercial failure of his first Warner Bros. album ''Astral Weeks'' (1968), Morris ...

'' magazine, and ''

Writers of the Future Writers of the Future (WOTF) is a science fiction and fantasy story contest that was established by L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1980s. A sister contest, Illustrators of the Future, presents awards for science fiction art. Hubbard characterized ...

'' Volume XVIII. A collection of her stories, titled '' Kabu Kabu'', was published by Prime Books in 2013. It includes the titular piece, co-authored by

Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts. Career ''Star Wars'' Foster was the ghost ...

, six other previously unpublished short stories, and 14 stories that had been previously published in other venues since 2001; with a foreword by

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...

Novels and novellas

After her 2001 Hurston-Wright award, she published two acclaimed books for young adults, ''

The Shadow Speaker ''The Shadow Speaker'' is a young adult, first-person novel by Nigerian-American writer Nnedi Okorafor, which takes place in the year 2070. It was a Booksense Pick for Winter 2007/2008, a Tiptree Honor Book, a finalist for the Essence Magazine ...

'' (Hyperion/

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Book Group) and '' Zahrah the Windseeker'' ( Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). ''The Shadow Speaker'' was a winner of the Carl Brandon Parallax Award, a Booksense Pick for Winter 2007/2008, a Tiptree Honor Book, a finalist for the Essence Magazine Literary Award, the

Andre Norton Award The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction (formerly the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy) is an annual award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to the ...

and the Golden Duck Award, and an NAACP Image Award nominee. Her children's book, ''Long Juju Man'', was the 2007–08 winner of the Macmillan Writer's Prize for Africa. Okorafor's first adult novel, ''

'' (

DAW Daw or DAW may refer to: People and language * Daw (given name) * Daw (surname) * Daw, an honorific used in Burmese name#Honorifics, Burmese names * Dâw people, an indigenous people of Brazil * Dâw language, a language of Brazil * Davaoeño lang ...

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

for Best Novel, was nominated for the 2010 Nebula Award. The prequel ''

The Book of Phoenix ''The Book of Phoenix'' is a 2015 science fantasy novel by Nigerian American author Nnedi Okorafor. It is a stand alone prequel to ''Who Fears Death'', it won the 2018 Kurd Laßwitz Award, Kurd Laßwitz Preis for Best Foreign Fiction Book and was ...

'' won the 2018 Kurd Laßwitz Preis and was a finalist for the

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

. In 2011, she returned to young adult with ''

'' (Viking/Penguin), the first book in the ''Nsibidi Scripts Series'', which was a Junior Library Guild Selection. The sequel, ''

'', went on to win the 2018

Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book Winners of the Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book, awarded by the Locus magazine. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar year. The award for Best Young Adult Book was first presented in 2003, and is amo ...

. Okorafor's science fiction novel ''

'' was a finalist for a

British Science Fiction Association Award The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) to honour works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members. More recently, m ...

(Best Novel), a Red Tentacle Award (Best Novel), and a Tiptree Honor Book. The ''Binti'' trilogy began with the 2015 novella, '' Binti''. This was followed by '' Binti: Home'', published in 2017, and '' Binti: The Night Masquerade'', published in 2018. ''Binti'' won both the 2016 Nebula Award and 2016

for best novella, and was a finalist for a British Science Fiction Association Award (Best Short) and BooktubeSFF Award (Best Short Work). ''Binti: Home'' and ''Binti: The Night Masquerade both'' received Hugo nominations for best novella in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Also in 2016, the

United Bank for Africa United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) is a Multinational pan-African financial services group headquartered in Lagos and known as Africa’s Global Bank. It has subsidiaries in 20 African countries and offices in London, Paris and New York. In Dece ...

, a Nigerian bank, partnered with

Cassava Republic Press Cassava Republic Press is a steering African book publishing company established in Nigeria in 2006 and headed by Bibi Bakare-Yusuf,

to distribute 24,000 copies of Okorafor's novel ''Akata Witch'' in nine African countries. In 2020, Okorafor released her middle grade novel ''

Ikenga Ikenga (Igbo literal meaning "strength of movement") is a horned Alusi found among the Igbo people in southeastern Nigeria. It is one of the most powerful symbols of the Igbo people and the most common cultural artifact. Ikenga is mostly maint ...

'', which was nominated for the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

. Okorafor's science fiction novella ''

'', set in a near future

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, was published in January 2021; while her adult novel '' Noor'', set in a futurist northern Nigeria, was released in November 2021. In January 2022, Okorafor's ''

Akata Woman ''Akata Woman'' is a 2022 young adult fantasy novel by Nigerian American author Nnedi Okorafor. it is the sequel to ''Akata Witch'' and ''Akata Warrior'' and the third book in ''The Nsibidi Script'' series which debuted on the ''New York Times'' ...

'', which is the third novel in the ''Nsibidi Scripts Series'' was released. Following the release of the novel, the series debuted on

The New York Times Best Seller list ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

Adaptations

In February 2017, Okorafor announced via

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

that her science-meets-witchcraft short story "Hello, Moto" had been optioned by Nigerian production company Fiery Film. The story was adapted into a short film, titled ''Hello, Rain'' by filmmaker C. J. Obasi. The story tells the tale of a woman who discovers that she can merge witchcraft and technology when she creates wigs for herself and her friends that allow them to wield influence and power, to help battle corruption. Instead, she watches her friends themselves become corrupted. A teaser was released in January 2018. ''Hello, Rain'' had its world premiere at the

International Short Film Festival Oberhausen The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, founded in 1954, is one of the oldest short film festivals in the world. Held in Oberhausen, it is one of the major international platforms for the short form. The festival holds an International C ...

on May 6, 2018. In July 2017, Okorafor announced via Twitter that ''Who Fears Death'' had been picked up by

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

to become a television series, with novelist and '' Game of Thrones'' producer

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

joining the project as an executive producer. Okorafor will remain involved with the project as a consultant. In January 2021, it was announced that

Tessa Thompson Tessa Lynne Thompson (born October 3, 1983) is an American actress. She began her professional acting career with the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica College. She appeared in productions of '' The Tempest ...

's newly formed production company, Viva Maude, had joined the team. In April 2019, it was announced that Okorafor would co-write the screenplay of an adaptation of

Octavia Butler Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction author and a multiple recipient of the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. ...

's '' Wild Seed'' with filmmaker

Wanuri Kahiu Wanuri Kahiu (born 21 June 1980) is a Kenyan film director, producer, and author. She is considered to be “one of Africa's most aspiring directors, being part of a new, vibrant crop of talents representing contemporary African culture”. Sh ...

for

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

and reportedly will be produced by

Viola Davis Viola Davis (; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, she is the only African-American to achieve the Triple Crow ...

. In January 2020, it was announced that Okorafor would co-write the screenplay of an adaptation of her ''Binti trilogy'' for

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

with writer Stacy Osei-Kuffour.

Other work

In 2005, Okorafor wrote and published her first play, ''Full Moon''. The Buxville Theater Company in Chicago helped produce this full-length theatrical work. In 2009, Okorafor donated her archive to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

Library. Okorafor was the Young Adult Author special Guest of Honor at

Detcon1 Detcon1 was the 11th occasional North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC). It was held in Detroit, Michigan, from July 17–20, 2014, in the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center. This NASFiC was scheduled because London, England, w ...

, the 2014

North American Science Fiction Convention NASFiC, a.k.a. the North American Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention scheduled only during years where the Worldcon is being held outside the North American continent. NASFiC bids are voted on by the membership of the Wo ...

; Detcon1 was putting special emphasis on YA science fiction. She spoke at the

TEDGlobal TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sa ...

conference in

Arusha, Tanzania Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census). Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern bran ...

, in August 2017. In October 2017, Okorafor announced via Twitter she would be writing three issues for Marvel's '' Black Panther'' comic, picking up where author

Ta-Nehisi Coates Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates ( ; born September 30, 1975) is an American author and journalist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at ''The Atlantic'', where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, parti ...

left off. The first issue of ''Black Panther: Long Live the King'' was released in December 2017. A month earlier, a short comic of hers titled "Blessing in Disguise" was included in Marvel's ''Venomverse War Stories No. 1'', inspired by the 2014 Boko Haram kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian girls. In March 2017, it was announced that she would return to writing derived from the Black Panther, in ''Wakanda Forever'', where the Dora Milaje

team-up In superhero comic books, a team-up is a fictional crossover where two or more superheroes or superhero teams who usually do not appear together work together on a shared goal. Overview The first team-up between characters published in different c ...

with Spider-Man, the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

and the

Avengers Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to: Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe * Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes **Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...

. In July 2018, it announced that Okorafor would write a solo title focused on Black Panther's sister, Shuri. ''Broken Places & Outer Spaces'', Okorafor's first non-fiction title, was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

in 2019. Okorafor contributed the essay "Zula of the fourth-grade playground" to the 2019 anthology ''

New Daughters of Africa ''Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Words and Writings by Women of African Descent from the Ancient Egyptian to the Present'' is a compilation of orature and literature by more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora, ...

'', edited by Margaret Busby. In 2018, her comic book limited series ''

LaGuardia LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...

'' was published by

Berger Books Karen Berger (; born February 26, 1958) is an American comic book editor. She is best known for her role in helping create DC Comics' Vertigo imprint in 1993 and serving as the line's Executive Editor until 2013. She currently oversees Berger Bo ...

. In 2020, the collected trade won an Eisner Award and a

Influences and themes

Okorafor's novels and stories reflect both her West African heritage and her American life. Rather than identifying as Nigerian-American, she refers to herself as "Naijamerican" and explains the importance of her dual heritage during a 2016 NPR interview:

That's very much a part of my identity, and it's also very much a reason why I think I ended up writing science fiction and fantasy because I live on these borders – and these borders that allow me to see from multiple perspectives and kind of take things in and then kind of process certain ideas and certain stories in a very unique way. And that has led me to write this strange fiction that I write, which really isn't that strange if you really look at it through a sort of skewed lens.

Okorafor noticed how the fantasy and science fiction genre contain little diversity, and that was her motivation for writing books of these genres set in Africa. She wanted to include more people of color and create stories with Africa as the setting because so few stories were set there. She wrote her first story as a college sophomore and made the setting of her story Nigeria. Her stories place black girls in important roles that are usually given to white characters. Okorafor cites Nigeria as "her muse" as she is heavily influenced by Nigerian

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

and its rich mythology and mysticism. Gary K. Wolfe wrote of her work: "Okorafor's genius has been to find the iconic images and traditions of African culture, mostly Nigerian and often Igbo, and tweak them just enough to become a seamless part of her vocabulary of fantastika." Her work often looks at "weighty social issues: racial and gender inequality, political violence, the destruction of the environment, genocide and corruption" through "the framework of fantasy". Okorafor shares that while the themes of her stories are often multi-layered they are always grounded in "stories of the women and girls around me and also within myself". Okorafor asserts that her work and parental responsibility relate to each other because "writing and being a mother are a part of me, so they are mixed together and balance each other out." As of 2019, she began strongly rejecting the term "afrofuturism" as a label for her work and coined the terms africanfuturism and africanjujuism instead. In October 2019, she published an essay titled "Defining Africanfuturism" that defines both terms in detail.

World Fantasy Award

Shortly after winning the World Fantasy Award in 2011, Okorafor published an essay "Lovecraft's racism & The World Fantasy Award statuette, with comments from

China Miéville China Tom Miéville ( ; born 6 September 1972) is a British speculative fiction writer and literary critic. He often describes his work as '' weird fiction'' and is allied to the loosely associated movement of writers called '' New Weird''. M ...

", in which she reflected upon her conflicting emotions on winning an award in the shape of a large silver bust of H. P. Lovecraft. She would later voice her support for

Daniel José Older Daniel José Older is an American fantasy and young adult fiction writer. His work includes the ''Shadowshaper'' ''Cypher'' series as well as novels in the ''Star'' ''Wars'' series. Career Older's career as a writer began in 2014, in the back ...

's 2014 petition to replace the Lovecraft bust with one of

. In the essay, she acknowledges both the literary legacy of Lovecraft and his continued influence in the contemporary world of science fiction:

Do I want "The Howard" (the nickname for the World Fantasy Award statuette. Lovecraft's full name is "Howard Phillips Lovecraft") replaced with the head of some other great writer? Maybe. Maybe it's about that time. Maybe not. What I know I want is to face the history of this leg of literature rather than put it aside or bury it. If this is how some of the great minds of speculative fiction felt, then let's deal with that ... as opposed to never mention it or explain it away.

Awards

Novel and Novellas

Comics

Short fiction, memoir and Novelette

Other Awards

* 2005 – The Strange Horizons Reader's Choice Award for ''Stephen King's Super-Duper Magical Negroes'' * 2007–2008 – Macmillan Writers' Prize for Africa for ''Long Juju Man'' * 2008 –

Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa is a pan-African writing prize awarded biennially

for ''Zahrah the Windseeker'' * 2012 – Black Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature (Fiction) for ''Zahrah the Windseeker'' * 2015 – African Literary Person of the Year from ''Brittle Paper'' * 2016 – Children's Africana Book Award for Best Book for Young Readers for ''Chicken in the Kitchen'' *Mathical Honors for ''Binti''

Bibliography

Children * ''Long Juju Man'' (2009, Macmillan Africa) * ''Iridessa and the Secret of the Never Mine'' (2012, Disney Books) *''Chicken in the Kitchen'' (2020, Lantana publishing) Young adult * '' Zahrah the Windseeker'' (2005, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; paperback 2008, Graphia/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)—writing as Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu * ''

'' (2007, Hyperion/Disney)—writing as Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu * ''

'' (2011, Viking/Penguin) (published as ''What Sunny Saw in the Flames'' in Nigeria and the UK by

Cassava Republic Press Cassava Republic Press is a steering African book publishing company established in Nigeria in 2006 and headed by Bibi Bakare-Yusuf,

) * ''

'' (2017, Viking/Penguin/PRH) (published as ''Sunny and the Mysteries of Osisi'' in Nigeria and the UK by Cassava Republic Press) * ''

'' (2020, Viking/Penguin) *''

'' (2022, Viking/Penguin) Adult * ''

'' (2010, DAW/Penguin) * "Hello, Moto" (2011, Tor.com) * "Moom!" short story in "AfroSF: Science Fiction by African Writers" (2012, Storytime) * '' Kabu Kabu'' (2013, Prime Books) * "It's War" short story in "Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History" (2014, Crossed Genres) * ''

'' (2014, Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.) (2015, Saga Press/Simon & Schuster) * ''

'' (2015, DAW/Penguin/ PRH) (prequel of ''

'') * '' Binti'' (2015, Tor.com) * '' Binti: Home'' (2017, Tor.com) *'' Binti: The Night Masquerade'' (2018, Tor.com) *''Broken Places & Outer Spaces: Finding Creativity in the Unexpected (TED Books)'' (2019, Simon & Schuster/ TED) * "Sunrise" short story in '' Africanfuturism: An Anthology'' (2020, ''

Brittle Paper ''Brittle Paper'' is an online literary magazine styled as an "African literary blog" published weekly in the English language. Its focus is on "build(ing) a vibrant African literary scene." It was founded by Ainehi Edoro (at the time a doctoral ...

) *''

'' (2021, Tor.com) * '' Noor'' (2021, ''DAW/Penguin/ PRH)'' Comics * ''Black Panther: Long Live the King'' (2017, Marvel) * ''

'' (2018, Dark Horse) * ''Shuri'' (2018, Marvel) * ''Wakanda Forever'' (2018, Marvel) * ''Antar: the Black Knight'' (2018, IDW/Mirage Films) * ''Shuri: Wakanda Forever'' (2020, Marvel) * ''After The Rain'' (2021,

Abrams ComicArts Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery. The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe. Run by President and CEO Michael ...

– Megascope)

Selected filmography

* ''Brave New Souls: Black Sci-Fi & Fantasy Writers of the 21st Century'' (2013) – Herself

Notes

References

External links

Nnedi Okorafor Home Page
by Nnedi Okorafor * Mikki Kendall
"A Nigerian Sorceress Makes Her Way"
''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', April 12, 2010
Nebula Awards Guest Blog: Is Africa Ready for Science Fiction
by Nnedi Okorafor

by Gary K. Wolfe
"Stephen King's Super-Duper Magical Negroes" by Okorafor-Mbachu"From the Lost Diary of TreeFrog7"
(short story), ''

Clarkesworld Magazine ''Clarkesworld Magazine'' (ISSN 1937-7843) is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It released its first issue October 1, 2006 and has maintained a regular monthly schedule since, publishing fiction by authors such as Elizabe ...

'', May 2009
Stories by Okorafor
at AfricanWriter.com
"If It Scares You, Write It: A Conversation with Nnedi Okorafor"
(interview), ''Clarkesworld Magazine'', December 2009 *
2010 Audio Interview
on the Geek's Guide to the Galaxy Podcast
"Sci-fi stories that imagine a future Africa"
Nnedi Okorafor at TEDGlobal 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Okorafor, Nnedi 1974 births Living people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American children's writers American comics creators American fantasy writers American people of Igbo descent American science fiction writers American women novelists American women children's writers American writers of African descent Black speculative fiction authors Female comics writers Homewood-Flossmoor High School alumni Hugo Award-winning writers Igbo novelists Igbo women writers Marvel Comics writers Nebula Award winners Nigerian children's writers Nigerian fantasy writers Nigerian science fiction writers Nigerian speculative fiction writers Nigerian women children's writers Nigerian women writers Nommo Award winners Novelists from Ohio People from Olympia Fields, Illinois Women science fiction and fantasy writers World Fantasy Award-winning writers Writers from Cincinnati Nigerian feminists