Pauline Ada Uwakweh is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

writer and academic. Writing as Pauline Onwubiko, she published ''Running for Cover'' (1988), a children's novel giving a child's-eye view of 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 f ...

. She is an Associate Professor of English in the English Department at North Carolina A&T State University.Pauline A Uwakweh
North Carolina A&T State University. Her specialism is African writing and literature from the

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...

, particularly women's writing. Dr. Uwakweh is Associate Professor of Literature in the English Department. She earned her Ph.D. from Temple University, M.A from University of Calabar, and B.A. from the University of Port Harcourt. Her specialization is in postcolonial African and African Diaspora women’s literature. Uwakweh is co-author of the book, Engaging the Diaspora: Migration and African Families (2013), and editor of African Women Under Fire: Literary Discourses in War and Conflict (2017). Her work appear in critical books and journals on African literature. She is a Fellow of the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowshi
Program

Life

Pauline Onwubiko was born in Uvuru, Aboh-Mbaise,

Imo State Imo State ( ig, Ȯra Imo) is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its n ...

. She attended Owerri Girls Secondary School and in 1982 she graduated with a BA in

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

from the

University of Port Harcourt The University of Port Harcourt is located in Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers state, Nigeria. It was established in 1975 as University College, Port Harcourt and was given university status in 1977. The University of Port Harcourt was rank ...

. She gained a master's in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and literary studies from the University of Calabar, and a PhD from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

. Before moving to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

A&T, she taught in the Department of African American Studies at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

and the Department of

and Literary Studies at the University of Calabar. She was a Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow in 2016.The New Class of Carnegie African Diaspora Fellows
''The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education'', 17 May 2016. Uwakweh has written literary criticism on a range of

writers A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, plays ...

, including

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' So ...

, Chinua Achebe,

Buchi Emecheta Florence Onyebuchi "Buchi" Emecheta (21 July 1944 – 25 January 2017) was a Nigerian-born novelist, based in the UK from 1962, who also wrote plays and an autobiography, as well as works for children. She was the author of more than 20 books, ...

Nawal El-Saadawi Nawal El Saadawi ( ar, نوال السعداوي, , 22 October 1931 – 21 March 2021) was an Egyptian feminist writer, activist and physician. She wrote many books on the subject of women in Islam, paying particular attention to the practice ...

, Alice Walker,

Gloria Naylor Gloria Naylor (January 25, 1950 – September 28, 2016) was an American novelist, known for novels including '' The Women of Brewster Place'' (1982)'', Linden Hills'' (1985) and '' Mama Day'' (1988)''.'' Early life and education Naylor was born ...

Tsitsi Dangarembga Tsitsi Dangarembga (born 4 February 1959) is a Zimbabwean novelist, playwright and filmmaker. Her debut novel, ''Nervous Conditions'' (1988), which was the first to be published in English by a Black woman from Zimbabwe, was named by the BBC in ...

Cyprian Ekwensi Chief Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi (26 September 1921 – 4 November 2007) was a Nigerian author of novels, short stories, and children's books. Biography Early life, education and family Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi, an Igbo, was born in ...

, Ama Ata Aidoo, Chimamanda Adichie and

Goretti Kyomuhendo Goretti Kyomuhendo (born 1 August 1965) is a Ugandan novelist and literary activist.

. She co-edited and introduced a 2013 collection on

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

and African families. Her own chapter looked at

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

motherhood ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gestati ...

and immigration in the writing of Buchi Emecheta and Chimamanda Adichie. In 2017 she edited and introduced a collection on war and

African women The culture, evolution, and history of women who were born in, live in, and are from the continent of Africa reflect the evolution and history of the African continent itself. Numerous short studies regarding women's history in African nations ...

, in which her own contribution considered

Grace Akallo Grace Akallo (born 1981) is a Ugandan woman who was abducted in 1996 to be used as a child soldier in the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel military group led by Joseph Kony. At the time of her abduction, Akallo was 15 years old and atten ...

's memoir, ''Girl Soldier'', and

Susan Minot Susan Minot (born December 7, 1956) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, screenwriter and painter. Early life Minot was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. Her father, ...

's novel ''Thirty Girls''.

Works

* ''Running for Cover''. Owerri, Imo State: KayBeeCee Publications. Republished by Africa First Publishers, 2010. * (ed. with Jerono P. Rotich and Comfort O. Okpala) ''Engaging the diaspora: migration and African families''. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2013. * (ed.) ''African Women Under Fire: Literary Discourses in War and Conflict''. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uwakweh, Pauline Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Nigerian children's writers Nigerian women children's writers 20th-century Nigerian novelists Nigerian women novelists University of Calabar faculty University of Port Harcourt alumni University of Calabar alumni Temple University alumni North Carolina A&T State University faculty Igbo people People from Imo State