Ukamaka Evelyn Olisakwe (born 24 October 1982) is a Nigerian

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

author, short-story writer, and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. 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 Africa39 was a collaborative project initiated by the Hay Festival in partnership with Rainbow Book Club, celebrating Port Harcourt: UNESCO World Book Capital 2014 by identifying 39 of the most promising writers under the age of 40 with the potent ...

project and included in the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

''Africa39: New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara'' (edited by

Ellah Allfrey Ellah Wakatama, OBE, Hon. FRSL (born 16 September 1966), is Editor-at-Large at Canongate Books, a senior Research Fellow at Manchester University and Chair of the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. She was the founding Publishing Direct ...

)."Africa39 list of promising writers revealed"
'' The Bookseller'', 8 April 2014.

Personal life and education

Olisakwe was born and raised in Kano State, northern Nigeria. 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.

Writing career

Olisakwe's debut novel, ''Eyes of a Goddess'', was published in 2012. 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. She has been featured in the BBC. Her essays have appeared in '' The New York Times'' and various magazines including the ''Nigerian Telegraph'' and ''African Hadithi''. She wrote the screenplay for ''The Calabash'', a television series produced and directed by

Obi Emelonye Obi Emelonye Emelonye a Nigerian film director. He is known for directing award-winning films such as ''Last Flight to Abuja'' (2012), '' The Mirror Boy'' (2011), and ''Onye Ozi'' (2013). In 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, which shut do ...

and premiered in January 2015 on Africa Magic Showcase. 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. She was a guest and panel member at the 2014 Ake Arts and Books Festival and the Hay Festival. Olisakwe was selected as one of the 39 most promising writers under the age of 40 from

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

and the diaspora, in the

project – 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

). 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", while another reviewer described it as a "gripping story about adolescent romance, deception and yearning". In 2016, Olisakwe was a resident at the University of Iowa's International Writing Program. In 2018, Olisakwe won the Vermont College of Fine Arts Emerging Writers Scholarship to pursue an MFA in Writing and Publishing. In July 2020, Olisakwe founded '' Isele Magazine''.

Lectures

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

Recognition

* 2014: Listed among

project of 39 writers aged under 40. * 2014: Listed among This Is Africa's "Best 100 Books 2010–2014" for ''Eyes of a Goddess''.

Bibliography

Novels

* * — (2020) ''

Ogadinma, or Everything Will Be All Right ''Ogadinma, or Everything Will Be All Right'' is a novel written by Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country i ...

''. The Indigo Press.

Short stories

* *

Articles

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olisakwe, Ukamaka 1982 births Living people Nigerian women novelists 21st-century Nigerian novelists 21st-century Nigerian women writers 21st-century essayists Nigerian screenwriters Nigerian women screenwriters Nigerian essayists Nigerian women essayists Magazine founders Nigerian feminists