Nwosu Pita Nwana (1881 — 1968) was a Nigerian novelist and carpenter. He mostly known as the writer of the first

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 ...

novel ''

Omenuko ''Omenuko'' by Pita Nwana (by trade a carpenter) is the first novel to be written in the Igbo language, and the book was very successful among the Igbo people. The book tells the life story of the politician Igwegbe Odum, an Aro Igbo who migrated ...

''. Nwana's ''

'' is regarded as the bedrock for fiction in Igbo literature.

Life and career

Nwana was born in 1881. He was the youngest child in a family of seven. He worked as a at Methodist College Uzuakoli and later as an interpreter for Rev. J. Wood at then Ibo Institute. In 1933, he wrote ''Omenuko'' which won a prize in a competition run by the

International African Institute The International African Institute (IAI) was founded (as the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures - IIALC) in 1926 in London for the study of African languages. Frederick Lugard was the first chairman (1926 to his death in 194 ...

, and was later published by

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...

in 1935.

References

Igbo novelists {{Nigeria-writer-stub