Rosina Umelo (born Rosina Martin, 1930) 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. She is known for her short stories, children's books and her

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

. She also has published under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Adaeze Madu.

Life

Rosina "Rose" Martin was born in

Cheshire, England Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county town ...

, and educated at Bedford College,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. She married Nigerian John Umelo in 1961, having met him on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

. In 1965, the two moved 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 ...

. She taught Latin at Queens School,

Enugu Enugu ( ; ) is the capital city of Enugu State in Nigeria. It is located in southeastern part of Nigeria. The city had a population of 820,000 according to the 2022 Nigerian census. The name ''Enugu'' is derived from the two Igbo words ''Énú ...

, until the outbreak 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 ...

(1967–70). She became a citizen of Nigeria in 1971 through marriage. She worked as a principal and created English-language

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

materials. Later, Umelo became a school administrator. Umelo has six children. Umelo collected 12 of her short stories for adults into ''The Man Who Ate the Money'' (1978), five of which won awards. Nancy J. Schmidt, writing for ''

Africa Today ''Africa Today'' is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary academic journal with articles about contemporary Africa. It was founded in 1954 and is published quarterly by the Indiana University Press. The editors accept submissions based on original res ...

'', called Umelo's writing in ''The Man Who Ate the Money'' "fresh," even though her subject matter dealt with themes that are common in African fiction. Umelo also wrote for a popular young adult series published by

Macmillan MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMillan ...

, called the Pacesetters Series. Umelo also created works for young adults for the series "Heart Beats", published by

Chelsea House Publishers Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, including ...

in the 1990s. In 1967, the

Eastern Region of Nigeria The Eastern Region was an administrative region in Nigeria, dating back originally from the division of the colony Southern Nigeria in 1954. Its first capital was Calabar. The capital was later moved to Enugu and the second capital was Umuahia. Th ...

, whose capital was

, seceded as the newly declared nation of

Biafra Biafra, officially the Republic of Biafra, was a partially recognised secessionist state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria and existed from 1967 until 1970. Its territory consisted of the predominantly Igbo-populated form ...

. The Umelo family fled from their home in Enugu to John Umelo's home village in the heart of Biafra. During the war, Rosina kept notes on her observations, which she wrote up as a narrative immediately after the war, which ended in 1970 with at least a million civilians dead. This account, called "A World of our Own," remained unpublished until 2018, when it formed the core of a book, ''Surviving Biafra: A Nigerwife's Story'' (Hurst Publishers, London), co-authored with anthropologist S. Elizabeth Bird. Later in her life, Umelo worked at the

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a nonprofit organization that works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture, with the ultimate ...

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

. In 2023, she lived in Dagenham in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Bibliography

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Awards

Cheltenham Literary Festival ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' Cheltenham Literature Festival, a large-scale international festival of literature held every year in October in the English spa town of Cheltenham, and part of Cheltenham Festivals: also responsible for th ...

Prize (1973) *

Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation The Voice of Nigeria or VON is the official international broadcasting station of Nigeria. History Founded in 1961, the Voice of Nigeria began life as the External Service of the then Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (now Federal Radio Corpora ...

short-story competition prize (1972 and 1974) * BBC Story Prize (1966)

References

External links

Umelo's Goodreads page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Umelo, Rosina 1930 births 20th-century Nigerian women writers 20th-century Nigerian writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century short story writers 21st-century Nigerian women writers 21st-century Nigerian writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Alumni of Bedford College, London British emigrants to Nigeria Living people Naturalized citizens of Nigeria Nigerian children's writers Nigerian short story writers Nigerian women children's writers Nigerian women educators Nigerian women short story writers People from Cheshire (before 1974) People of the Nigerian Civil War Pseudonymous women writers Igbo people