- Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu (full name: Nnedimma Nkemdili Okorafor-Mbachu) is an
African-American writer offantasy andspeculative fiction . The American-born daughter of IgboNigeria n parents, she has regularly visited Nigeria since she was very young. Her novels and stories reflect both her West African heritage and her American life.She is the author of "
The Shadow Speaker " (Hyperion/Jump at the Sun) and "Zahrah the Windseeker " (Houghton Mifflin). "Zahrah" was shortlisted for the 2005 Carl Brandon Parallax and Kindred Awards. It was also a finalist for the Garden State Teen Book Award and the Golden Duck Award. "The Shadow Speaker " was a Booksense Pick for Winter 2007/2008, a Tiptree Honor Book, a finalist for the Essence Magazine Literary Award, the Andre Norton Award and the Golden Duck Award and an NAACP Image Award nominee.Nnedi's children's book, "Long Juju Man", is the 2007/08 winner of the Macmillan Writer’s Prize for Africa [Macmillan Writer's Prize for Africa: 2007/8 Winners and Shortlist [http://www.writeforafrica.com/ceremony.html] ] . Her short stories have been published in anthologies and magazines, including "
Dark Matter II ", "Strange Horizons ", "Moondance" magazine and "Writers of the Future " Volume XVIII. She received a 2001 Hurston/Wright literary award [Hurston/Wright Award for College Writers: Recent Winners [http://www.hurston-wright.org/hww_award_for_college_writers.shtml#RecentWinners] ] for her story "Amphibious Green."Okorafor-Mbachu holds a
Ph.D. in English from theUniversity of Illinois, Chicago and lives with her daughter Anyaugo and family inIllinois .Bibliography
* "
Zahrah the Windseeker " (2005, Houghton Mifflin; paperback 2008, Houghton Mifflin/Graphia)
* "The Shadow Speaker " (2007, Hyperion/Disney)
* "Long Juju Man " (forthcoming 2008, Macmillan UK)References
External links
* [http://www.nnedi.com/ Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu Home Page]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/books/review/Freitas-t.html New York Times Review of "The Shadow Speaker"] by Donna Freitas
* [http://farah-sf.blogspot.com/2005/12/guest-post-nnedi-okorafor-mbachu.html Review of "Zahrah the Windseeker"] byGary K. Wolfe
* [http://www.strangehorizons.com/2004/20041025/kinga.shtml "Stephen King's Super-Duper Magical Negroes" by Okorafor-Mbachu]
* [http://www.africanwriter.com/authors/18/Nnedi-Okorafor%252dMbachu/ Stories by Okorafor-Mbachu at AfricanWriter.com]
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