Chinelo Okparanta

Chinelo Okparanta (* 1981 in Port Harcourt , Nigeria ) is a Nigerian- American writer .

Life

Okparanta grew up in Nigeria and emigrated to the USA with her family at the age of 10.

After graduating from school, she earned a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University and a master's degree from Rutgers University , New Jersey. She then studied creative writing in the Iowa Writers' Workshop , where she received another master's degree. In the following years she was a fellow at various universities, including Colgate University in New York, the University of Iowa , Howard University in Washington DC and the University of Houston. She also took on various teaching positions, including in Hamilton, New York, West Lafayette and Indiana. She is currently Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at Bucknell University in Lewisburg.

In 2013 she published her first book, the short story book Happiness, Like Water . The work received positive reviews and was awarded the Lambda Literary Award 2014 , among other things . Her first novel , Under the Udala Trees , followed in 2015 and attracted great international attention. The Bildungsroman , which tells a lesbian love story against the backdrop of the Biafra War , has won several awards. Okparanta has also published many essays and short stories, including in The New Yorker, Tin House and AGNI.

In 2018 she was a juror for the National Book Award .

2019 Okparanta was included in the anthology New Daughters of Africa by Margaret Busby added.

Works

Happiness, like Water , Mariner Books, 2013, ISBN 0544003454
Under the Udala Trees , (Original title: Under the Udala Trees), Verlag das Wunderhorn, 2018, ISBN 978-3-88423-592-8

Awards and nominations (selection)

Awards

2012 named one of Granta's six "New Voices" of the year
2013 nomination in the Guardian's list of "Best African Fiction" of the year
2014 O. Henry Prize
2014 and 2016 Lambda Literary Award (for best lesbian fiction)
2016 Jessie Redmon Fauset Book Award in Fiction
2016 Inaugural Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award
2017 named one of Granta's "Best Young American Novelists"

Nominations

2013 Nigerian Writer's Award
2013 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award
2013 Caine Prize for African Writing
2014 New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award
2016 Zora Neale Hurston / Richard Wright Legacy Award
2016 NAACP Image Award in Fiction
2017 International DUBLIN Award

Web links

Commons : Chinelo Okparanta - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Author Spotlight In: The O. Henry Prize Stories: Author Spotlight Archive , 2014, accessed March 29, 2020.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p About the Author In: Chinelo Okparanta: The official Website , accessed March 29, 2020.
↑ The Rumpus Interview with Chinelo Okparanta In: The Rumpus , by Ryan Krull, November 6, 2015, accessed March 29, 2020.
↑ ^a ^b Chinelo Okparanta In: Bucknell University: Faculty Staff , accessed March 29, 2020.
↑ Why Chinelo Okparanta's LAMBDA Lesbian Fiction Award Win is Significant for African Literature In: Brittle Paper , June 13, 2016, accessed March 20, 2020.

personal data
SURNAME	Okparanta, Chinelo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Nigerian writer
DATE OF BIRTH	1981
PLACE OF BIRTH	Port Harcourt

[OHenry-1] Author Spotlight In: The O. Henry Prize Stories: Author Spotlight Archive , 2014, accessed March 29, 2020.

[Bio-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p About the Author In: Chinelo Okparanta: The official Website , accessed March 29, 2020.

[Interview-3] The Rumpus Interview with Chinelo Okparanta In: The Rumpus , by Ryan Krull, November 6, 2015, accessed March 29, 2020.

[Uni-4] Chinelo Okparanta In: Bucknell University: Faculty Staff , accessed March 29, 2020.

[Lambda-5] Why Chinelo Okparanta's LAMBDA Lesbian Fiction Award Win is Significant for African Literature In: Brittle Paper , June 13, 2016, accessed March 20, 2020.